October 20, 2024 – A

Dementia has several phases.
I wonder what form mine will take,
looking out the window,
watching the days come and go.

I am curious about a lot of things,
most things, actually.
I've always been that way,
and enjoy it the most.
I wonder what I will wonder about next,
waiting for some form of dementia
to carry me off
(I wonder where I will be then).

I accompanied parishioners drifting away,
and am familiar with the possibilities.
Slats Rainey had me confused with a Coca-cola
delivery man from a time long past,
and he always talked to me 
as though I were that person--
and I talked to him as though I were that person,
sharing his memories, 
as he remembered them,
and laughing as though I knew
what we were talking about.
It was time well spent,
though it was completely meaningless
except for the communion it afforded
during the length of our visits.

When dementia consumes us,
we remain able to enjoy our 
communion with one another's company
regardless of the nonsense
of our conversation.

The sacred things remain intact
through it all.