Writing Just a Face

[Mnemolth]

This is a little on the long side, and the ending doesn't quite work, but there are some very nice bits. :D

[b]Just a Face[/b]

Each Sunday morning I go to visit
The lady who once lived
And now simply exists.
There is no room in her mind for recognition
A cacophony of mindless natter
Is all that occupies her thoughts.

I stand outside as the nurse unbolts the door.
I enter, and hear the inevitable whispers
That accompany any foreign face.
Visitors are a rare occasion here ?
One forgets easily what is out of sight,
Out of mind.

In the sitting room they sit, as they are instructed
Nursing their blank expressions.
?So young...? One whispers, and I feel it.
Two ladies sit watching the news
A plane crash in Egypt... A missing child
They make no comment ? it means nothing to them.

I find her outside on the patio
Gazing at the pocket-sized garden
And the faces that amble along the path
Each lost in its own alabaster world.
Those around her offer no comfort?
The same invisible chains trap them all.

She sits facing the others
The fear within her locked away
But I see it, gripping her heart
As she searches the faces for friends.
Today, Every Day, her quest ends in tears.
Every face is just a face.

As I draw near her face lights up with a smile -
A realization ? I have come to visit her.
She hugs me, So glad I could come!
But her pale, sad eyes deceive her
And I see the flash of panic
As she wonders who I am.

?You?re looking well,? I offer
And she blushes like a child.
She is wearing pink ? A colour she loathes
But I know the days of preference are gone
So I complement her dress sense
And she thanks me with a shy little smile.

I stretch our awkward conversation
For there is nothing for her, save the present
And I want to make it last.
?Sarah is well,? I finally inform her.
?Who is Sarah?? she brightens with interest.
?She is your daughter,? I tell her softly, and she cries.

It is time for me to go,
Yet even now she has forgotten me,
Forgotten her daughter, forgotten her tears
Forgotten her life.
I try to smile as I say goodbye
But it is my turn to shed a tear for my friend.

I dare the moment not to disappear
Into the cavity of her mind.
But it does, and I know she will look at me blankly
The next time I appear at her side.
I am doomed forevermore
To be just a face?
The same as every other face.

[conpiracymonki]

[b][size=1]
When [i]you[/i] said long, I was getting myself ready for a LOT, lol. This was kinda short for your usuals ~.^

But yeah, it does go really nice. And I like the way you [strike]writ[/strike] wrote it. I didn't think the ending was bad at all.. although it felt sorta cliched (although I can't remember anything ever ending like this o.o); I dunno.[/b]

And I also demand that you know finally reveal which picture is you! ¬.¬
*can't wait any longer* >.>[/size]

[T man]

Sorry for saying this but what in the world does that poem mean?:demon:

[Lady Asphyxia]

[size=1]Heh. Finally, I get to see some more work from you, Mnemmy.

T Man, the poem is about a lady with Alzheimers.

Personally, I like the poem, partly because it isn't as cryptic as you usually make yourself. I like the Sarah part, the opening and conclusion, but the paper reference just doesn't seem to fit.

^_^ I'm glad I got to see more of your work. [/size]

[Mitch]

[size=1]It's okay. Not exactly my taste in poetry, but it is sweet and endearing I admit.

It has no rhyme, rhythm, or anything of that sort. That's why I don't like it. Poems don't have to have that, I agree, but it's something that I always put in my poems nearly all the time. I don't know why, but that's the way it is. Otherwise I become too bored with the poem to really actually want to read it or know it.

It's sort of shortchanged, hidden, the way this poem works. It isn't blatant, but it's subtle. I love that, that's a great feeling to be left with.

So what do I say? I like it, actually, even though it's not exactly my type of taste in poetry. I like morbid stuff, what the hell can I say.[/size]

[Sui Generis]

[color=indigo]...

That poem actually made me cry. Something I haven't done for a while....

Hm...I had a great-grandma die of Alzheimers in May and I haven't really be able to cope with it I guess you could say, but this for some reason helps. I don't know.....

It seems people help each other without realizing it, thanks.

Anyways its a good poem. Its very true in many ways....I watched my great grandma transform into a soul looking for the forgotten memories locked in her mind.....You described it well....

-Bryan

[/color]

[Guest dayday]

T man, if you can't figure it out trying thinking about old people, nursing homes, and losing memory. Maybe that will help you some.
Anyway that was a great poem. Try some more like that one.