Poem – A Prayer for All Mother’s with Dementia

 

As I watch her slowly slip away,

Into the grip of dementia, wild,

Her mind lost in disarray.

My heart aches for the mother who has become a child,

 

She demands the impossible,

Her expectations, unrealistic,

Blaming all for her troubles,

Responsibility not possible in a mind now too simplistic.

 

But I know it’s not her fault,

This disease is the demon,

Making her afraid and distraught,

Her once sharp mind now an unable seaman.

 

It’s a terrible burden to bear,

To see a mother collapsing in fear,

Her mind consumed by despair,

Her rational mind becoming commandeered

 

We try to help her find safety,

To surround her with love and support,

But it’s an endless uphill journey,

She wants everything but this is not a resort.

 

Our aging population is growing,

Yet solutions are scarce and few,

Leaving us in a constant knowing,

Of the heavy toll dementia takes on me and you.

 

So let us raise our voices high,

Demanding new solutions for our aging kin,

Let us not sit idly by,

As this disease ravages from within.

 

For all of us will be there too soon.

And everyone wants dignity, respect, and love,

Because we are a part of the baby boom.

And none of us want to be disposed of.

 

I wish for her to find some peace.

But anger fuels her life now.

I wish for all her conflict to cease.

So at the end of this life, she can take a graceful bow.

 

I want her to remember the good times rather than this fear.

To remember her youthful smile and heart.

I don’t want to see her flounder in this new frontier.

Even as I know she heads towards a fresh start.

 

I pray for a door that leads her to remember.

A path that is flat and easy to walk.

Because she is now in her December.

And we are at the crosswalk.

 

The path ahead I cannot follow.

And I worry for her journey ahead.

Please angels give wings to this swallow.

May she find peace before she is dead.

~Suzanne Wagner~