a pantoum written for one of my patients with Pick's disease |
Mary said... I'll tell you about Pick's disease. My soul is non-local not wrapped in white wool like the wounds in my brain. My soul is non-local it won't whistle with repetition like the wounds in my brain while I wait winter's moon of long nights. It won't whistle with repetition wandering past gravity and light while I wait winter's moon of long nights and a wind of rich silence. Wandering past gravity and light my old whimsical self filled with wine and a wind of rich silence I wonder where that Mary has gone. My old whimsical self filled with wine not wrapped in white wool I wonder where that Mary has gone. I'll tell you about Pick's disease. Written for: "Stormy's poetry newsletter & contest" Author's note: Pick's disease is a rare form of dementia, similar to Alzheimer's. It's onset, however, is generally before age 65, and affects behavior and mood more than memory. It is charecterized by lesions in the brain known as Pick bodies. People with Pick's disease become obsessive, repetitive, but as the disease progresses. eventually become mute and unable to speak or care for themselves. The temporal and frontal lobes of the brain wither and atrophy. |