Saturday, 19 July 2025

Forgetting

 

Forgetting

Old age plays several nasty pranks,

Purloining strength and youth,

Seizing sight and sound and taste,

And modifying truth;

But worst of all the memory flees -

The day before is lost.

Though sixty years ago is clear,

Current events are tossed

Like rubbish in a refuse truck;

Confusion reigns supreme.

‘I never did, I don’t know how,

Don’t make me cry, I’ll scream.’

 

Forgetting is letting

The memories go,

Sensing identity

Fading, and so,

Child once more,

Your needs are

Met each day,

Every way,

Until

The end

Of

Time.

26 comments:

  1. I am going to use this for my geriatric lecture

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  2. Sad but in some cases true.

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    Replies
    1. It doesn't happen to everyone, but there's no telling where or when it will occur.

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  3. I don't want this for myself, but it is beginning, sometimes I have to retrace yesterday's steps just to remember what I had for dinner!

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    Replies
    1. A measure of forgetfulness is normal, but no-one wants to decline to the point of helplessness.

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  4. I can identify with this and I am only 68 🥺

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    Replies
    1. Busy people forget things - it's natural.

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  5. Yes, I get it too. Sudden deaths when someone is still mentally and physically able are such a shock, but kinder to all in the long term. Observing slow and continuing decline is harder.
    Nice work, btw.

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    Replies
    1. Slow mental decline is torture for everyone, I agree.

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  6. Sad but funny at the same time. I just love it when I'm standing at the kitchen sink and I think of something I need to do in the kitchen, and I blink my eyes and forget.

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    Replies
    1. Someone I knew said she believed in the hereafter, as she often went into a room and wondered what she was here after. 😉

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  7. It’s the scariest thing to me — more than physical well-being.

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  8. I agree. I'm on the look-out all the time . . . 😟😲

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  9. Hope it comes -Christine cmlk79.blogspot.com

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  10. Aging can be cruel, but your words remind me to approach it with empathy, love, and patience and its legit.

    Thank you for sharing.

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  11. This expresses it all perfectly!

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  12. Perfect. Dementia in particular is a cruel thief, both for the sufferer and those who live and care for.

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  13. Dementia is so cruel. I lost my dear mum years before she actually passed away.

    One in three people born in the UK will be diagnosed with dementia, according to the Alzheimer's Society charity.

    It has of course been in our UK news recently due to Fiona Philips TV presenter and her husband Martin Frizell:-
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c77vm4k635mo

    Your poem shared here describes it perfectly.

    All the best Jan

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  14. I experience these nasty pranks. They are a nuisance but not earth shattering.

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  15. I just came from my friend's home who is an amateur butterfly person.We were looking at the butterflies and hummingbirds visiting her garden. Your post is wonderful and the photos of the butterflies and extraordinary. I love the look of the cabbage butterfly.

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