Mirror of Memories
Mirror of Memories
On my brown bedroom wall hangs an old misty mirror,
with a ghostly reflection staring vacantly back at me.
It’s taunting me and I don’t know why.
Whose melancholy face is it that I see?
That graying woman looks strangely familiar.
I can’t remember where I’ve seen her before.
It’s hard to focus…but I need to hang on to her,
for somehow I know she means much to me.
Am I losing it? Or is it just
a temporary lapse of memory?
I’m so frustrated for frequently forgetting
familiar people, places, and simple things.
A visitor came by today and I felt sad
when he got upset as I called him “Dad.”
He kept repeating that he was my son.
But what do I know? Hopefully he will never see
that I’m just living for moments of lucidity.
Nightmares and daydreams play their weird tricks,
bombarding me with memories from nineteen sixty-six.
But when I find myself in the Twilight Zone,
it’s easy to forget what I ate just minutes ago.
Like Alice in Wonderland, I’m falling down a rabbit hole,
and weary from trying to figure out nonsensical riddles,
which twist and distort what’s left of my mind.
Maybe tomorrow I’ll wake up from this Mad Tea Party.
Yes, that frightened woman in the mirror looks familiar,
like someone I used to know. What’s her name?
Who is she? Oh, dear God, I’m not sure.
But she’s a phantom stalking me – that’s all I know.
11/14/2015
09-02-2015
Contest: Mirror of Memories Alzheimer's
Sponsor: Tammy Reams
Placement: 1st
*NOTE: Sadly,Lenora Taylor, the woman who inspired this piece, passed away one week after this poem was submitted. She fell off her bed at the Nursing Home, was hospitalized, and never recovered. May she rest in peace!
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