The following vignette of poetry was shared with me by my shy and sweet neighbor across the canyon, Nancy Fierstien. I believe she has truly captured in few words a most poignant portrait of the reality of ill and aging loved ones. The heartbreaking abyss of coping with a loved one stricken with Alzheimer's Disease, however, would seem beyond verbal description. Yet Nancy has achieved this in her Poetry in Motion series, shared below, with words incisively honest, yet redemptive, even transcendent. May you each find comfort within them, as we did.
OWED TO A NURSING HOME
As half-forgotten memories
slip into the night,
teardrops slide past
like ghosts praying in twilight.
I've traveled through somber songs.
--NLF, 5/11/01
WITH REGRETS
Photographs of hope
will be filling hollow lockets--
while I'm
saving my indifference
in small pockets of time.
--NLF, 5/13/01
BEDTIME PRAYER
Cradle me,
I'm begging You.
My sinking knees believe
without Your touch,
my universe
will not be true to much.
--NLF, 6/29/01
ADVICE
"You think my dream of seeking wealth
is troubled?"
"Without question," Greed replied.
"Try seeking spring-fed fortune on God's side."
--NLF, 7/5/01
HEALING TIME
Even love is hushed
as hot tears touch me.
Wounds rent scars
and dress me lightly.
--NLF, 7/12/01
FORGETFULNESS
These memories
packed away defy
my dusty little soul.
They're Living Memories
but I
dead-ended long ago.
--NLF, 7/17/01
LITERACY
Great white margins
resist attacks.
Captive Cursor
blinks at my blank spaces.
I flag down
the Conquering Letter.
--NLF, 7/25/01
DESIRE
Blinded with tears I try to wander
from her,
but my Seducer sings.
Her trained eye
has me moaning.
--NLF, 8/3/01
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All poems © Nancy Fierstien.
Used by permission.
More of Nancy's poetry can be
found on our poetry index page, here in this website.
Over four years we have kept an index of the poems we have loved and shared,
for you there. Let us know if you would like to write her -- we will
forward your words to her HERE.