Eleven Questions

When a person reaches that ‘certain age’ (this poet already has), he starts to think about the time when his mental and physical abilities will start to wane. This poem was inspired by the “Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE)” administered to detect the early stages of dementia. What is the season? What is today’s date, day, month, year? If your reply is “who cares!” That’s depression, not dementia. Give yourself five points if you get all the answers right And an extra point if you add “And it’s another lovely day”. Where are we now? State? County? Town? Hospital? Floor? Thankfully, I can’t answer those last two questions. “Take the paper in your right hand, fold it in half, And put it on the floor.” What if I’m left-handed? Do I lose a point? “Please count backward from 100 by sevens.” For this I got a PhD in physics! “Make up and write a sentence about anything. The sentence must contain a noun and a verb.” “Life is a death sentence” qualifies. “Show the patient two simple objects, Such as a wristwatch and a pencil. Ask the patient to name them.” Do I lose points when I reply “Casio” and “Papermate”? Or, am I just being too literal? So, for now, I pass the test of sanity. And you do too, by reading this.