The Memory-Eater

by Shernaz Wadia

He wobbles in the wasteland of his mind,
Utterly befuddled, himself he cannot find

Forgetfulness mists the by-lanes of remembrance,
A menacing phantom has abducted his independence

He struggles to place names and faces,
Fumbles with buttons and contends with shoelaces

He is thoroughly stumped by the simplest act
As of donning a cap or stating the merest fact

Dismay and mistrust flash from his wary eyes,
A cornered animal, with confusion everyone he spies

People hitherto cherished, are now blanked out
Every past recollection has been stamped out.

As his intelligence gradually blurred,
Then entirely blackened and slurred

This docile old man highly esteemed
Was now a pestilent madman deemed

His return to innocence is misinterpreted,
His distressing ailment misrepresented...

Like a savage brute spiking its mesmerized quarry,
Alzheimer's has transfixed him in this quandary.

22-Jan-2006

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