Have you noticed?
I luxuriate in memory
Recalling names and places
Of the past
Revisiting the people
And the stories
The happy times
The sorrows that don’t last
Sir Alex said he feared
To lose his memory
When illness came upon him
In a flash
To lose that strong connection
To your story
To feel adrift
Where ocean currents crash
Dementia leads the sufferer
Into deserts
Familiar faces places
They’re all gone
And loved ones who are caring
For the patient
Lose their loved one
Though they’ve not passed on
I remember a lovely teacher
Back in Roker
Her dad now in a care home
Mind away
Do you know who I am?
His daughter queried
Wondering all the time
What he would say
‘I don’t know who you are,’
The old man uttered
‘But I know I love you,’
Came his firm reply
So love remains
When all else
Has been taken
Hold on to that
Hold on until we die
Brian Fahy
15 May 2021
Erris Poetry 