Thinking of Joe Brainard's "I remember" [whose model was followed by Georges Perec and so many others], we asked Argentinean writer Sergio Chejfec to share with us some of his memories. This is what he sent us.





I remember my father’s admonitions

I remember the sound of typewriters

I remember domino tiles sounding loudly against the tables of certain Brooklyn neighborhoods during summer

I remember the nasal voice and drawn out r’s of Ariel Delgado (Radio Colonia)

I remember the croaking of frogs during Caracas nights

I remember the hammering and puffing of the heating during winter

I remember the flapping wings of a bird trapped in a room

I remember the voice of Ana María Pardo, of the old bookstore Soberbia, Caracas

I remember Charlie Feiling’s voice

I remember the abbreviated deflagration of matches as they’re struck, in order to light a cigarette

I remember the illusory silence as one reads

I remember the shouts of the neighbors upstairs

I remember the vain attempts of a car that won’t turn on

I remember one’s own breathing when desperate under the sheets

I remember the silence of animals

I remember the sound of the sea near the coast

I remember not understanding the language spoken next to me

I remember the same machinistic rumor in different cities

I remember the shrieks of peacocks in front of my house

I remember the resounding voice of Edgar Bayley, with his hands over his mouth as an unnecessary megaphone in order to be heard at the other end of the room

I remember never being sure of what it is I’m being told



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Margo Glantz