Had a Way WIth Plants - Feb 6 2023

 

Had a Way With Plants

Feb 6 2023

They say dementia strips away

all the posturing

and politesse,

the performance art

by which you present yourself to the world.

Because who can remember the lines

read faces

act with grace

when even spooning soup

take all your concentration?

Exposing you

for exactly who you are,

naked

crouching inside;

all your worst impulses

unrestrained

and there for all to see.

Or revealing

that there was nothing inauthentic at all;

you really are that nice,

gracious, caring, and kind.

He'd always been a hard man;

explosive,

suspicious,

unexpressive and distant.

But in public, he covered up well,

and his gruff persona

just made him that much more ”interesting”,

a colourful character

straight out of Dickens.

That is, if you forget about the drink;

2-fisted, and hair-of-the-dog,

long benders

drinking to get drunk.

And then there was her.

Who sent cards on every occasion,

volunteered generously,

and had a way with plants;

still the same person

despite the forgetfulness.

Shrunken, bent, and bird-like,

with wispy grey hair

and trembling hands,

she may have regressed;

but the gentleness

grace

and girlish delight

had always been there,

the big heart

dementia couldn't steal.

I suspect I'll be more like him.

Petulant

Impatient

judgemental;

the difficult man

I tried not to be,

but behind the mask

was.

The patient no one wants,

wandering the halls

bewildered and lost.