Dementia

---

You told me that story again,
That same one you always tell, 
How no man lived past forty-nine, 
They all died but you were well.

But this time when you told me it
You forgot how it should end.
No, you couldn’t remember, 
It was all just a pretend.

It showed me you’re slowly slipping
Away, and well past before;
You call it being a “sponge-head,”
Your thoughts leaking from every pore.

We once shared some core memories,
But now we don’t anymore.
Forgotten is my childhood,
A loss that’s hard to endure.

I guess you are still my father,
But you’re not who I called Dad;
For Love obligates me to care,
Yet in guilt and shame I’m clad. 

Will I also be just like you
In my old age and dotage?
Will I forget all my sons too,
My mind given to wastage?

What makes this loss all the worse is
The sorrow that I will feel:
I just know I won’t see you there,
‘Cause your fate you damned and sealed.