Friday, March 4, 2011

Alzheimer

Alzheimer

Darkness squeezing him in
Dawn has left his zone
Memory failing one by one
Faces are blank no identity attached
Some names float by
Flotsam in the ocean
I stand in front of him
Looking at his angelic face
A flicker of recognition moves across
Mone (son) he says extending his hand
Events fleet around
Temporally not connecting
Wants to hold on to memory
Indira Gandhi is his PM yet
A man whose thoughts stirred
Statesmen to writers of recon
Memories slipping away like an eel
Juxtaposing into one another
Rolling into a cauldron of desperation
His face reflects unknown agony
Inner core crying out
Love failing, meaningless utterances
His favorite dish in his plate
A microscopic smile on his face
Or was I imagining it 
Touch, taste and smell mean nothing
No associations, triggers no feelings
Hemispheres parting
Neurons snapping with a miniscule of light
Billions of flickers ushering in the darkness
His wife was the connectivity
The last shred to reality
Bave was what he called her
With more neurons snapping
Bave was lost to him
Hemispheres parted
With last of the neurons snapping
He slipped away in his sleep
Alzheimer claimed greatest of thinkers
I have ever known

K.V. Radhakrishnan


No comments:

Post a Comment