I know she's in there somewhere
Yet, there's a blank look on her face
No recognition in her lovely eyes
As she cringes at my embrace
It hurts to see her sitting there
Looking so lonely and forlorn
Where is the mother I used to know?
She's alive, but still I mourn
An awful disease has afflicted her
Playing games as it destroys her mind
Giving us briefly a ray of hope
Then leaving her brain maligned
This morning, she was her old self
Her memory no longer encroached
But an evil cloud encircled her
As eventide approached
The doctor calls it "sundowning"
Overwhelming her body and soul
When the onset of dementia
Gives a daughter the mother's role
I pray she will know me once again
With the dawn of another day
Yet I know the time is drawing nigh
When sundown will have its way
Kathleen McCoy Eldridge
©April 25, 2010
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