The Alzheimers Ward and Lost Memories

Cavernous warehouse filled to the rafters With all of my memories; forgotten laughter Boxes unmarked, heavily taped, a dusty cluttered mess Haphazard narrow walkways disappear into the dark abyss Before I came to this wretched place… Horrid, medicinal, cloying reek meant only to replace The stench of slowing dying, tormented oblivious souls With nothing left but ruined bodies growing old Before I was connected to every nuance of life and time Quick to answer, practiced whit, and wisdom so sublime Then my faculties were stolen; no longer able to connect With simple tasks and simpler thoughts; only distant regret Yet helpless to light the fires of what I needed most With, you’ll have to forgive me…all of these old ghosts If only time is kind and my few lucid moments don’t betray I have some business to attend to before I go away Within this darkened warehouse I search with rheumy eyes For the precious engraved golden tin; inside it holds my prize: His well-worn wrinkled picture, for years it’s been misplaced Finally I see the golden tin amidst the gloom of this space As I reach to gently cradle his memory within my gnarled hands Unkempt hairs stick to my face in tangled matted strands I trace his lovely youthful face, his precious loving grin Without him I have been so lost; a prisoner within The present seems so oppressive Without the will to live My body quickly failing, but now I fear no more For I have found a fragment of the girl I was before And at the very end, fate has been so kind To replace his memory within my heart and fragile broken mind Now I will go to meet my beloved and leave this frail place To gain his presence once again and behold his lovely face All of this confusion and despair to ever leave behind And I will meet him at the gate; his wonderful grin to match in kind.