A Word with Laurie: Dementia

Whistler's Mother

Yesterday I watched a little girl at the pool playing with a toad. She carried it around in her hands like it was a chocolate chip cookie she'd snuck from the kitchen. She stuck it on her brother's head and inside her cute little bathing suit while her oblivious  mother chatted with a friend. I just wanted to share that with you. I even wrote a poem about it here. Now for the prompt... 

Last month I changed things up a bit. I will choose the word I wish to highlight from blog posts of members and contributors of Imaginary Garden with Real Toads. I hopped from lily pad to lily pad, and I have to say it was a tough choice. That is, until I came across a special posting from Susie Clevenger.

We are most familiar with Susie's poetry on Confessions of a Laundry Goddess. Over at one of her other blogs, Susie’s Sentences, “Where You Find Me,” touched my heart. I have written about my own experience with cardinals after the death of my friend, so I can truly relate to what happened between Susie and her deceased mother. I was brought to tears not only because of that, but because of my own relationship with my mother, which over the years has been tumultuous at times.

I’ve also noticed a common thread running through many of the poems I read on a regular basis. It ties in perfectly to Susie’s post. That theme is Alzheimer’s Disease. It’s the last reason Susie’s words resonated through my heart; my grandmother suffered from dementia.

The American Heritage Dictionary defines dementia here:

1. Deterioration of intellectual faculties, such as memory, concentration, and judgment, resulting from an organic disease or a disorder of the brain. It is sometimes accompanied by emotional disturbance and personality changes.
2. Madness; insanity.

You can take this in many different directions.

*Of course, there’s the medical definition we all know associated with Alzheimer’s Disease.

* Do you ever feel demented?

*Insanity: In.San.It Y. End of story.

Please write a poem that follows this prompt and link it to Mr. Linky. Be sure to visit the other participants and leave a comment letting them know you were there. Don't forget!