Capturing the Word — Beyond Forgetting   Leave a comment

Presenters Reading Poetry from Holly Hughe’s Beyond Forgetting (Holly is on the left) — Images by kenne

Last year, Holley Hughe Settle based editor of Beyond Forgetting: Poetry and Prose About Alzheimer’s Disease, and the celebration of the unexpected graces that come with living in the present., was a presenter in the Writers in Performance Series. The following poem by Jan Harrington is an example of the writings in the book.

On July Nights I Stay with My Father

— Jan Harrington

Because he is vehement
and I am tired, I let him wear
his winter boots to bed. Their clasp
of his ankles  calms him – an antidote,
I imagine, to the loose
helplessness of pajamas.

Later he sits up, shaking,
cries out: “Where are mu shoes?
I need shoes.”

“You’re wearing your boots, Dad.”

He stares at me, sees stranger,
not daughter. I am slight ballast
for his night terror.

“How did you find me?” he asks.
“Will we make it out alive? Whatever
happens, stay here.”

He sleeps, I wait,
a sentry at the mouth
of the painted cave, watching
for morning’s pale rim.

This is part of an ongoing blog series base on the poetry of writers who have presented at the Writers In Performance Series at Lone Star College – Montgomery.

kenne

Posted August 6, 2010 by kenneturner in Capturing the Word, Photography, Poetry

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