Ashes in the Flame

Dementia- A health curse!

It was my father's birthday on 25th April and despite the lock-down, we decided to go for a small celebration at home. To our surprise, when we asked him to blow the candles before cutting the cake, he no longer seemed to remember how to do it.

He is a patient of Alzheimer's disease and it saddens me immensely to see him gradually give in to this state of memory loss over the last few years. In Bangladesh, it's customary for the children to take care of the elderly instead of keeping them in nursing homes. Our parents have taken care of us when we were young and it is just fair that we do the same in times of their need.

Dedicating this one to all the people suffering from dementia and also to their families and caregivers who find it equally tormenting to see their close ones suffer.

Ashes In Flame

What would happen if you suddenly,

Find yourself lost in time?

If you can no longer recall the people you knew,

Or what you did in your life’s prime.

Your memories keep fading

Faster than your body turning frail,

Like the shadows losing their track

On a dusty and broken sundial.

In confusion, you live in your present

As you cannot be sure of your past,

You have no account of things you did

Or experiences that would last.

Unknown people surround you

Though they are your very own:

Your close friends and family

Your loving spouse, daughter, and son.

Your own home seems unfamiliar

As you often fail to recall,

The life that you had so fondly lived in it

And now apart it all falls!

As if stuck in a tormenting deja vu,

With a mind put on a lock,

In turmoil, like the weather, still and silent,

Before the Nor’wester creates its havoc.

To get relief from the agony

You escape in search of respite,

But soon you realize it’s a losing game

There is no way to win this fight.

How sad would that life be, imagine!

If you failed to remember your own name,

And find your memories vanish in thin air,

Like those ashes in the flame.

Farah N Huq
27.04.2021

A small prayer for all

May the Almighty bless us all with good health, happiness and prosperity and help us combat this pandemic soon.

© 2021 Farah N Huq