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 no longer remember 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, quickly,
On a dusty and broken sundial.
In confusion, you live in your present
As you cannot think 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 and children.
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 in silence,
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 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