Mark Dohle, US
Free Verse
Dementia’s
dance
(The center still there)
Things move slow in
the mind that is confused,
life seen as if in a fog,
yet the dark mist unperceived,
clear sight a painful illusion,
uncomprehending of how others treat them
or in the simple doing of what must be done,
for them their confusion is the only reality.
Each moment or situation has a life of its own,
a beginning, middle and an ending,
a bardo,
a place of continued changing,
nothing permanent,
constant flux,
a whole lifetime in a few moments,
then forgotten as if it did not happen,
until it has to be done again,
the stoic’s eternal return,
relived but not remembered.
So time shattered between the chaotic ‘now’,
then lost in the distant past
becoming present,
the experience going either way
bringing peace
or anger and deep suffering.
Life becoming a masquerade,
those there
wearing the faces
playing in events long past,
the roles played of those often long dead.
So much inner incomprehension
taken for simply ‘what is’,
a tragedy for both the one confused
and those who have to deal with it on a daily basis.
Yet it is not all bad,
for forgetfulness is also a blessing,
the good moments just as powerful as the bad,
the laughter there,
the pleasure of food,
good memories becoming alive,
surrounded by friends only they can see,
yet real none the less,
at least for them.
Faith also never leaves for those who are blessed with it,
often giving a center to simply ‘be’,
a place to stand,
pray,
and seek some answers,
when the searching is possible,
and
when that goes,
well,
God is ever faithful
present in a place more real,
eternal,
just below the chaos and shattering
until the time
when
it all ends,
and the essential unity revealed.
