I drafted this poem one evening after seeing the movie, Here Today, with Billy Crystal. Although the movie’s major theme is about the unlikely yet touching friendship formed between two very different characters, a veteran comedy writer – Charley Burnz, and a singer – Emma Payge, the movie is also about the drama, emotions and fears that go along with dementia. Many times, dementia will go unnoticed. Therefore it also goes undiagnosed.

I have neighbors and family that have struggled with memory concerns so the movie hit home about what it must be like for the person experiencing it.  I decided to write a quick poem about it. This is a first draft, unedited for the most part.

words fall silent
names, memories, hard to recall
fear builds, anxiety beckons
from the unknown depths

days slip by
unconcerned with a slip of the tongue
until at last
something so familiar
escapes our grasp

thoughts invade
unwelcome
fear and anxiety push past the gates
to break down our silent walls of protection

confusion, dissension
disturbances of spirit abound
until at last, all is forgotten
except fleeting glances
of a life gone past