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Notes About The Poem

The D Word

dementia wields a boundless blight
it strips the mighty of their might -
divests the brightest of their light
and twists their daytime into night
and for what ends, pray tell -
to bring this world a bit more hell?

dementia yields deep, frenzied fear -
makes foreign what we once held dear
and turns each hour a darkened year
with weep that will not cry ONE tear
and for what ends, oh pray -
to squeeze the sweet of life away?

dementia chokes each memory
and drowns it midst a barren sea
to leave a soul, once fair and free
devoid of what it thus should be
and for what ends, I ask -
to gift the devil one more task??

dementia makes the worst of hells
to leave our dear ones empty shells
untold, those precious joys it quells
and deaths of darkness, it compels
and for what ends, is this -
to cheat our last breath … of its kiss?!?







Copyright © Gregory Richard Barden, January 26, 2023

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Jeff Kyser Date: 2/5/2023 5:42:00 AM Dementia is tragic indeed. I can't say I understand the why of it. My hope rests in the promises of Christ, and even the long dark days of dementia are but a momentary affliction in the eternal scheme, but this passage from Ecclesiastes is haunting, nonetheless: Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near of which you will say, “I have no pleasure in them”; before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars are darkened... Login to Reply Jeff Kyser Date: 2/5/2023 5:42:00 AM Your poem is very well done - I appreciate the message and an interesting rhyme pattern. Thanks for sharing!

Fran Delaney-Barron Date: 1/28/2023 9:26:00 PM AAAAH! So well done! Beautiful yet tragic. Meter and rhyme are so perfect. While free form could express the same thoughts, it is only in this meter and form that it achieves real beauty! Login to Reply