Wednesday, February 1, 2017

THE LONG GOODBYE

There was a sameness to her
solitary days, each blurring
into the next in a relentless
procession, leaving her bewildered
and at sea.  

She tried desperately
to grasp reality, but it drifted away
as a wisp of smoke from a
midnight campfire disappears
into the dark night. 

Bit by bit the pieces of her self
fell away until every face was
new and unfamiliar, and she wandered
the halls of the place that kept her
safe, a little lost soul seeking some
elusive something.

One Spring night she simply slept
away to that better place where
he-who-had-gone-before waited with
open  arms.  She was, as are we all,
but a blip in the river of time, briefly
rippling its waters.
***

 For those whose lives have ever been touched by that long goodbye called Alzheimer's.
Submitted for Poets United Poetry Pantry, February, 2017.

16 comments:

  1. Bev, your poem evokes the sadness and loss so beautifully. You have captured the limbo in which loved ones live while waiting for the final goodbye.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Sad and beautifully expressed, Bev. Dementia is a cruel disease.

    ReplyDelete
  3. So sad, so beautiful, so true, so real...I love it.

    ReplyDelete
  4. The most painful goodbye that you put into words so well.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I love your poem. It captures the stasis and loss of ageing so beautifully.

    ReplyDelete
  6. The last sentence......wow.....utterly breathtaking.

    ReplyDelete
  7. so very very sad.. and yes I do know this all too well. My mother is fading at the moment... so little left.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It is so painful to lose them while they are still here. Having been there, I hurt for you.

      Delete
  8. So beautiful:

    "One Spring night she simply slept
    away to that better place where
    he-who-had-gone-before waited with
    open arms."

    ReplyDelete
  9. Alzheimer's is such a cruel disease. This was such a moving piece.

    ReplyDelete
  10. You have described it so very well....poignant, true!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Just so sad... and the last line is true..we are all just briefly rippling the water, yet the cruelty of the disease is so vast.

    ReplyDelete
  12. "a wisp of smoke from a
    midnight campfire disappears
    into the dark night." nothing describes an Alzheimer's patient better than these poignant lines...

    ReplyDelete
  13. "a wisp of smoke from a
    midnight campfire disappears
    into the dark night." nothing describes an Alzheimer's patient better than these poignant lines...

    ReplyDelete
  14. I know whereof you speak. A beautiful and tender poem.

    ReplyDelete