Alzheimer’s
by Sara Khayat, Poet.
We grow up
to stem down
–
learn everything
to lose it all
–
at the mercy of
our memories
we fight for
identity
–
our minds
chopped at the
roots
–
breakdown
–
too many
unpredictable
tangles
–
not enough
nerve
–
we decay
we decay
–
we deteriorate
–
and reality waltzes
out the front door
with your name
–
she packed a bag
chock-full of your
sanity
–
she said
Catch me if you can
and on the days
when you just might
remember the year
or the season
or the day of the week
reality’s got you
begging for just one
more minute to
remember just what
it was like in the days
when you weren’t so
–
tangled
–
the days you could
keep it all
together.
Sara Khayat was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. She currently studies creative writing and psychology at a California State University. She is the editor-in-chief of thepaperplanepilots.com. Her work has appeared in Metaphor magazine, The Blue Hour Magazine, and various other magazines and journals. In October of 2013 she released a book of her poetry titled Borrowed Bones. She is in the process of editing an anthology by the Paper Plane Pilots titled Reasons to Never Return to be released in June of 2014.
Categories: Poetry
infinite-pathways.org 
My grandmother had Alzheimer’s… This is exactly what I thought she would think in those small moments of clarity. I’m afraid I’ll get the same. I really like this part:
“at the mercy of
our memories
we fight for
identity”
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My husband’s grandmother is facing a similar reality. The fact that she keeps having minor strokes makes her moments of lucidity even more rare…
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Thank you so much for posting this. It’s such an honor.
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