A conversation with my Mother

I went to visit my Mother at her nursing home today. I told her that her husband of 71 years had died.

She was incredulous.

‘He’s asleep he’ll wake up’. She said.

‘No’, ‘I said ‘he is dead’.

‘Where is he?’ she asked.

‘In the mortuary.’ I replied.

‘Where has he gone?’ she persisted.

‘Heaven.’ I answered as a last resort.

‘Well he’s definitely not gone there.’ She replied.

The End

Alone in silence.

I heard my Father’s dying

echo around me.

Hospital

Alarms blurt out a warning.

Punctuated by

tear stained eyes blinking.

 

Death

Death now is messy.

All tubes, cords and monitors

with fluorescent bulbs.

Gateaux

A lady who knew how to sew

decided to bake a gateaux.

She used cotton reels

to make orange peel

then entered her cake in a show.

Alzheimer’s 2

Uninvited a

shadow entered through a crack.

Your memories stolen away.

Unseen, they vanished.

Alzheimer’s 1

Do you remember
when translucent waves pounded
sharp, shingle beaches,
and sea foam flew by as your
memory was swept out to sea?

Alzheimer’s

From a haggard face

dark blank eyes scan steadily

for recognition.

Snow white hair falls softly down as

memories melt and vanish.

Whistle

The distant sound of

a steam train punches the sky.

A kettle whistles.

Catkin

Golden skeins of wool

sway gently in southern breezes.

Catkins purr softly