What Happened to the Day?

Alzheimers is a terrible thing...

'My child, what is that sound I hear

That rush of many feet,

I hear the people gathering

Tumultuous in the street,

I hear the people shouting

But I can't hear what they say,

The sun begins to set, my child,

What happened to the day?'

 

'I well remember waking, it

Was such a glorious dawn,

The clouds splashed red and tumbling

From Dante's palette born;

The clouds so red, it hurt my eyes

I had to look away,

Why look you so forlorn, my child,

What happened to the day?'

 

My memory has failed once more,

Again, it's taken wing,

You must remind these weary bones,

I don't recall a thing.

The clouds reflected through the house

Some sense of red dismay,

I ask you once again, my child,

What happened to the day?'

 

'My wife, my love of fifty years

Came out and smiled at me,

I sat her in her favourite chair

And then I let her be.

She doesn't always know me now,

Her mind has gone away,

Who are these men in uniform...

What happened to the day?'

 

'You keep reflecting on the blade

That's lying on my lap,

I must have carved the luncheon roast -

I can't remember that!

There's blood all over everywhere

But how, I couldn't say,

My child, my mind's beyond repair,

What happened to the day?

 

'I only acted out of love,

Whatever else is true,

If I could just remember

What it was I had to do?

These men are treating me so rough,

They're taking me away,

Your eyes are hard and cold, my child,

What happened to the day?'

 

David Lewis Paget

Reviews

[C.T. Bailey]

Mercy. Speechless. That was morbid. Wow. That's the thing with you...you never just scratch the surface...you dig deep..real deep. Some would just write about the sadness of the disease, but my friend you weave your magical creativity and present for us a delightfully bloody, but yet sorrowful tale. Oh my.

Very very unique.
Todd

[Linda Marie Van Tassell]

This poem dripped right from your quill
that writes in endless vein.
It bleeds right through the parchment
like an endless blood-red rain.
Alzheimers is sad fortune's wrong,
whatever men might say.
What's left of life if left to ask,
What happened to the day?

Another marvelous write!

Linda Marie Van Tassell

[Aspiring Angel]

Thank you so much for the friend's request and for the heads up on this write that is so much like the first you have read of me.

Alzheimers, sometime in our lifetime, be it that we become its victom or know someone who has become the victom, will touch us all. I worked for many years within the health field when I was younger, and the patients with Alzheimers most touched my heart. Most times quiet, sometimes combative, and what would always break my heart the most, is when they would go back to childhood and weep for their Mommy's. Thus the lines in my write.

Your write 'What Happened To The Day?' Leaves one with such a deep sorrow for both the parent and the child of this write. Although there is a perhaps added bit of horror to your write, it is not uncomprehensible that someone with this awful disease could believe that they had dones such a thing and perhaps under the right circumstances could acutally step within this picture you have captured.

I look forward to stepping into more of your work. I do not get to the cafe to read nearly as often as I would like but don't give up on me .... I will show up when you least expect it.

Blessings,
Lesa

[Silent Kim aka mizmetap..]

As always an excellent write. The mysteries of the mind. Block out things we wish to forget or regret. What happen to the day, what happen that day. Scarey, My bigest fair, is losing my memory.

[Silver_Moon]

I love the way you wrote your poem. Deep and still interesting for the readers. I can't help but sympathize to your main character here. Innocent yet not at the same time.

[Laura E. Aranda]

CRAZY! WOW The ending was sooo frightening...Thank you for asking me to stop by and read this ...I think I would have read this anyway due to the very unique and intriguing title....I can't stop thinking about the question.......Cheers,lea
What happened to the day? so remorseful!

[Norma J. Jessee]

I know this is based on a disease where this truly could have happened, yet it is so awful to think of it in this way. It's also strange how people with alzheimers can react differently from the disease. Some are very timid and meak, while others are hostile. I have seen both types.. It is a sad diease and I think it is the most dreaded disease of the elderly. I can not imagine waking up one morning and not the people I have known and been around my entire life. I watched a movie based on this disease. " The Notebook " It was heartbreaking and I cried several times. during the movie.

Excellent writing but heartbreaking content.

[Valentine]

When I go to the nursing homes I see so many people who do not even know who they are let alone who I am..my mother-in-law thought she was a little girl still living in another town..She escaped and was trying to get home several times but did not knon where it was..one of our Supreme Court female justices...husband is in a home with it and he has a lady friend..she visits them both but they do not know her..You are such a fabulous expresser of ideas and writings David, you wrap a persons thoughts around your ideas and the mind floats along with them..Sad but so well done..God bless..Valentine

[Wildfleour]

My best friend's father suffered from Alzheimers when it first was beginning to be understood.

[An Ordinary Woman]

Yeah. Alzheimers is a terrible thing, indeed. My Aunt had it, so awful to watch and know. It is as you say, exactly like that. The poem is beautiful, well written by a heart that knows ...