Monday, February 24, 2014

Forgotten




She didn’t know my name
only remembered a child-


The child she took
swimming in the brook
behind our house, her house.
She said she never lived there

When I said
“mom, you must remember me.”

 She said-
 she was no one’s mother,
 never had any babies.

Her eyes blue and blank
as if in a dream somewhere
long ago, still young and childless.

She told me of dancing
barefoot in the grass
with a young man
as if it were yesterday.

The young man,
my father fell from grace
and ran off leaving his children
to care for the wife who forgot
his name.

All the years-
erased by a savage
invader who took my mother
to far off places where years
were held by timeless days.

Like a ghost she haunts the past
leaving me lonely.

.




21 comments:

  1. Oh Lisa, I ache for those who have suffered in this type experience. The depth of pain here...oy...I hope they can heal...and leave a different type of legacy for their own. Wonderfully writ, as always.

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    1. Thank you Jennifer. I was inspired to write this after reading the book, Still Alice and also thinking how difficult it would be for my daughters if they were in that situation.

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  2. oy, dementia scares me...i read still alice a few years ago and it rocked me...i have also seen dementia first hand---its hard to face, them not remembering, in another place...very emotional piece for me...

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    1. I remember having the same experience when I read Still Alice, so sad. Thanks for your comment Brian, always appreciate hearing from you.

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  3. Sad, hard--this scares me as well--You laid this out for me---and made it so real

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  4. I have to say this was a poem of many feelings.. dementia... but also other more ghostly feelings. ... somehow I related to PJ Harvey singing Down by the water... (and many people have tried to understand that song)...

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    1. I know what you mean. My mother didn't have dementia, she had a very serious mental illness and passed away five years ago. We never really knew each other so I guess in some respects I do feel haunted, she always spoke of the past, never really remembering me. I have heard Down by the Water, and I think there's a lot more to that song than people think. Thanks Bjorn for your comment.

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  5. What a gut level and honest poem this is, Lisa. I appreciate this kind of writing so very much. And I feel sadness as I read your poem, knowing that it will never get any better than this. This is deep loneliness, one that many feel but that many will not express.

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    1. This poem relates a lot to my mother, who was ill but in a different way. There will always be a loneliness in me for her but as you said, it was something that would never get any better. Thanks Mary.

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  6. This is a very poignant poem, Lisa! I am sorry you have to go through this. A few years ago my grandfather had dementia too and his forgetting he had kids was very hard on my mother and her siblings.

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  7. Such a heart wrenching write. I feel the weight and sadness of this poem. Hugs xoxo

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  8. What a write - very touching and hits the core of me ~ I dread growing old like this and not remembering my children ~ Really well done Lisa ~

    Grace

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  9. So healing for you to be able express the reality here ~ sincere writing xx

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  10. Very poignant. Many striking phrases. Also relatable (in a while I'll be the "narrator").

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    1. Thank you Janet. I wish you all the best in this very difficult time.

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  11. This is heart-breaking Lisa and hits me hard because I am facing a suspected dissociative disorder though I have never forgotten my loved ones

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