FEARFUL

There's a stash of memories running wild in my brain!

A maelstrom of phrases and words trying to escape.

They're headbutting my skull, riding roughshod again,

Jostling madly for position, lining up on my tongue

And I'm frantically searching my dry mouth in vain,

For those pithy recollections before they disappear. 

 

Could I have reached the end of this corporeal life;

Is senility attacking my mind, deleting all as it goes?

My cutting wit, once much admired, sharp as a knife,

Reduced to raving and mumbling, not making sense.

In my mind I’m still young, not ready for the afterlife.

I try to put fading memories into some sort of order.

 

Then suddenly, a light shines on one lone memory,

Grandad saying, “It’s the forgetting that’s difficult.”

And just like that, I recall every single tale and story,

Which, a frantic minute ago, I thought had vanished.

My audience is small, attendance wasn’t obligatory,

And I feel the anxiety disappear, “Hello and welcome…”

 

© Sandy Gillis 2023


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