Knowing What is Coming 

2010-05-09 A somewhat fictional take on Mom’s dementia

One day, they remember Holden
from Catcher in the Rye – and can recall
Tony Bennett all brown-eyed singing
Close Your Eyes while their hips swayed

Soon they begin to ask to go home
while they are sitting comfortably in the wooden chair
where they rocked their babies and yours
They forget the name of your children and or their husband
They walk out of doors cleverly concealed
behind rock band posters from the 70’s
you thought they might recognize
because they hated kids listening to that music
and they would yell turn that damn thing off
but they find the door because they are on a mission

following fences or power lines
to reconnect with their chatty maid of honor
whose voice was silenced by sickness
or to find their child who will only exist
in a cemetery plot where babies are buried

or drawn to the lake
where you went together and watched the sun go down
They licked around the edges
of your banana ice cream cone
telling you don’t let it drip all over the car
while you watched the sandstone fountain
spray runny reds yellows then greens and blues

and only now, can they catch sight of rainbow’s end
which no one could see during those summer nights
when the ball of fire set late o’er the waves
From the front seat they would recite
red skies at night, sailors delight,
red skies at dawn, sailors be warned
And you took delight because you knew that rhyme by heart.