A Love That's Lost: A Poem In Memory By Pete Marshall
Alzheimers has had a profound affect on my families life. A while back we lost someone very close to us when Alzheimers finally beat him. I wrote a poem about this which some of you may have read before? At this time of year the memory of this person is always on our minds and i wanted to share this again. Alzheimers isn't just about memory loss, and doesn't just affect the person fighting it. My poem, A Love That's Lost, is really a reflection on what happens to those left behind.
A Love That's Lost
A petal falls so silently
to land and rot amongst the weeds
A roses head tilts & sighs
its stalk been snapped by wicked lies
each day you toil to keep alive
your dreams of love that never die
but weeds grow up and strangle stems
as blood drips from the petals end.
Your lawn was lush and velvet green
now dry & barren like your dreams
and age has caused your bones to tire
your hands are cracked with skin so dry
you mask your pain in solitude
bereft of friends that vanquished you
and as you prune each budding shoot
you snap the growth of disrepute.
Oh how you once was young & free
you bloomed & blossomed flirtingly
each eye you caught would turn a head
but times have passed & lovers left.
A robin sits and watches you
his gentle verse that warms you through
but robins fight & guard their place
whilst you just laughed amidst disgrace.
Indoors he sits a lonely man
across the table his bread & jam
and through the glass he watches you
inside he cries at nothing new.
A once proud man who gave his life
who gave you all as man would wife
and yet here now he sits alone
the man you loved no longer known.
The smile that wooed a million girls
that made you heart a merry whirl
but now the bones are cleansed of meat
his once large frame admits defeat
he grasps for thoughts no longer there
and through the glass he sits & stares
his children come his children go
the names of which he’ll never know.
You made a vow to stand by thee
so still you tend & still you weed
but deep inside you’re very scared
to lose your rock that always cared
yet still you hide in solitude
the pain that hurts inside of you.
A petal falls so silently
to land and rot amongst the weeds.
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If you would like to know more about Alzheimers or even donate please visit Alzheimers Society
image courtesy creative commons http://www.flickr.com/photos/iirraa/
18 comments:
You captured this beautifully. Thanks.
Boonsong
What a great poem Pete. I feel the man he was and your grandmother needing his strength and finding none.
Hope all of you enjoy this poem by Pete Marshall
Lovely. I see it every day in my line of work and this was very touching. A fitting tribute.
Oh Pete - I shiver - your words have such depth and reveal the fear and the fading away of a loved one like in a picture, painted slowly by a suffering artist.
It grieves me that so much is lost to something as obscene as this slow death of the mind. It's like that line from the movie Gods and Monsters: "Pray that your mind is the last thing to go." How very true. :(
Thank you for this heart wrenchingly beautiful read, Pete.
Beautiful poetry, Pete. It's devastating to witness Alzheimers erase the memories of a loved one's mind. My grandmother spent her final years "living" through it. sigh. Thank you for posting this heartrending piece.
It is difficult to watch and live through a friend or family member's slow journey away down the Alzheimer's path. You lose the person , despite having them there to touch. It is almost more difficult than if they were not there at all. Beautiful verse with much emotion Pete. Lovely and sad.
My Grandmothers Mother, my Great Grandmother had alzheimers. I can still see the tenderness in my Grandma's heart and my fathers heart too, even after all these years.
Your poem is BEAUTIFUL and so touching and I really felt the power in this line:
"robins fight & guard their place whilst you just laughed amidst disgrace"
Beautiful. It reminds me of my grandfather. So well done. Thank you.
Such an awful disease. We've lost family members to it as well.
This was beautiful.
jj
This was so well written. I have in my past worked many years (and still do part time) with Alzheimer's patients. Its so sad to see the decline...and to just know the frustration they feel as it worsens and their sharp minds decline so rapidly...great poem!
great write pete...tough subject too. i fear this, quite honestly. it makes me...
hope you are enjoying your time away...
Pete, this is so poignant and moving. Alzheimer's is such a sad way to spend the final years, for the victim and everyone who loves him or her. My mother in law has Alzheimer's. It hasn't come to this point She's 94, so perhaps it won't.
Alzheimers touches so many lives. This is a heartfelt, beautiful and sad.
So tragic to have to watch a loved one go through this disease.
Very nicely written. I felt as if I was actually there. Great imagery. :)
Everyones life is touched by alzheimers. You have beautifully touched upon the journey of life. As always a
great poem.
thanks to everybody that commented on this piece..it really is a terrible thing..the thing that got me the most is the mind doesnt just forget names etc it also forgets how to eat...and in time how to draw nourishment from the food that has been taken down...alzheimers is a horrible illness...Pete
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