Keeping the Elephants Away
To Keep the Elephants Away
by Muriel Fahrion
Daughter/ granddaughter of dementia
Despite her attempt
To disclaim her inheritance
Feels it encroaching
A huge lead gray block
Of impenetrable compressed mystery
lumbering toward her so slowly that
She picks up only
A low-grade tremor.
Armies of scientists, neurologists scramble to
Jackhammer through to the core
But they barely scratch the surface
Leaving her to scavenge among the debris
For hints to the cause, signs of
The impending impairment
She girds herself in defense against
The plundering of memory
The pillaging of words
With anagrams, scrabble, green tea
Turmeric, aerobics and a litany of smells
The afflicted can no longer smell
Leather, lilac, menthol, smoke, pineapple, strawberry,
Clove, soap, lemon and natural gas.
She knows her arsenal of weapons is a mere
Talisman against an all-out onslaught
Of Alzheimer’s
She hunkers down —praying it will miss her
Or chose another target, one not related
One she will not have to watch diminish
She takes a final whiff for reassurance
Before she turns off the lights
Clove, leather, lemon lilac, menthol
Natural gas, pineapple
Smoke, soap and strawberry
To keep the elephants away
Muriel Fahrion – January 05
This entry was posted on Friday, November 16th, 2007 at 6:25 pm and is filed under Poetry. You can follow any comments to this post through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
