BrooksLooks@ Kaleidoscope

Kaleidoscope

running away
beyond these walls
smashing the glass
i scream in sterile halls

at the end of my years
i’m full of fears
so many tears
each piece of my life
was once crystal clear

now like shards
of colored glass
that tumble together
in time’s impasse

endless shapes
roll round and round
bits of my memory
broken, lost
no longer found

unfamiliar patterns
as i move from the light
darker by the moment
my soul’s final fight

unsteady hands
the pieces keep
turning, moving
i no longer know
i’m no longer improving

[she walked to where
the circled chairs,
a familiar stranger,
her husband of 50 years–
was waiting there]

tell me who you are again?
will you help me see?
did i know you once?
were you kind to me?

won’t you sit a bit
and talk with me a while?
hold my hand
i think that once
i knew your lovely smile

my spirit shattered
i’ll escape today!
over the wall
beyond my fears
if i break this glass
i’ll get far away

leaving shards
of colored glass
to tumble together
in my last gasp
endless shapes
go round and round
bits of memory
lost, remaining now
forever un-found

wait for me
i’m still right here
all my heart
all my fears
uncertainty and tears
where is my home?

when can I go home?

Dedicated to Dot & Frank and to The Elms’ Chestnut Cottage, Memory Care Alzheimer’s Disease Unit, Westerly RI

© Copyright Brooks Bradbury 2015