Dementia

Slip into your familiar fiefdom sealed to me;
I’ll say adios now, as I release your angel arm,
admitting the unattainable.
Go with your peers through nether
portals of the mind, stranger than witchcraft.
Dark shores bordering lightness.
Maybe I too will traverse their sands,
beyond reason, more cryptic than art
or the poetic word.

My goodbye is irreversible. You´ll not know
me if I, too, plummet into improvident spaces.
I can only sit by you, disregarding
your prattle, confident of some sheltering empathy
in the synchronicity of our lives.
Go before I burst out crying for the self
I loved in you; stumble off as if nothing happened.
Grope your droll road to baffling echelons
with their odd laws.

About This Poem

Last Few Words: This about my late husband's many years with vascular dementia.

Review Request Intensity: I appreciate moderate constructive criticism

Editing Stage: Editing - rough draft

About the Author

Region, Country: Río Negro, Argentine Patagonia, ARG

Favorite Poets: Sylvia Plath, T.S. Elliot. Shakespeare, Gongora, Beckett, etc. Many others, such as Cervantes. I have to thank my mother because she read poetry to me from the cradle, so first I learned by memory and soon understood the words. Grammar comes naturally at about 5 years old, without any formal teaching.

Comments

Lavender

5 years ago

Dementia

Hi, Gracy,
What strength it must have taken to write this heartbreaking poem. I hope your poetry provides some healing for you.
Thank you,
L

Gracy

5 years ago

Dear Lavender, I actually

Dear Lavender, I actually wrote this poem and several similar ones, during the time Carlos had dementia. It was a healing process to write it all down. I also wrote at least one short story about a trip in an ambulance when he had convulsions after a heart surgery ( he had three before the dementia).
So yes, you're right, it does provide healing for me. Thank you, Gracy

Geezer

5 years ago

Such a terrible...

thing to happen to one of our loved ones. These lines brought it home to me, as my mother-in-law had Dementia and I watched someone I loved almost as much as my own mother, deteriorate before my eyes.
"Go, before I burst out crying, for the self I loved in you; stumble off as if nothing happened." Such tenderness and yearning for a glimpse of the person we used to know. Great and sad read, ~ Geezer.
.

Gracy

5 years ago

Dear Geez, so you've also

Dear Geez, so you've also seen the deterioration of a loved one, no need to add anything. My husband's lasted 15 years. And one son had schizophrenia, so I've been thru' a lot. Writing poetry about all these experiences is a healing process.
Bless you, Gracy

Geezer

5 years ago

I'm glad that it helps...

I hope that your writing helps someone else, by letting them know that they are not alone. Maybe one day... ~ Geezer.
.

Gracy

5 years ago

Yes, I hope so too, Geez.

Yes, I hope so too, Geez. Thank you and keep safe, Gracy

Gracy

5 years ago

Thank you for your kind words

Thank you for your kind words, Teddy. I find writing about these sad topics is like therapy for me. Carlos was a physician, a psychologist and a poet. He also wrote essays that were published, in Spanish.
So it was heart breaking to see him go downhill and for so long, 15 years. My son Robert had schizophrenia, as I think I've said many times, sorry.
I don't believe such illnesses can be turned into gold, either in poetry or any other way. But it's so sweet of you to say so.
Keep safe, Gracy

Gracy

5 years ago

Dear Jerry, thank you for

Dear Jerry, thank you for your kind words. Yes, I was devoted to Carlos and still am. I often dream of him, of the times when he was OK. Count your blessings, you and Lynda have come a long way, safely. Keep it up, Gracy