Changing Strangers Attitudes….Poem

I met a stranger on the train the other day

An American visiting her cousin

We chatted happily, Shared a joke

And then suddenly silence……

 

She saw my card, and looked quite shocked

And silence hung in the air

I said how I’d just been to Cheltenham festival

On stage not in the audience

 

And suddenly her demeanour changed

Wanting to know more

Her parents both had dementia

I wasn’t like them at all

 

I then proceeded gently

Her listening…. acutely

She wrote down the name of my book

We shared a common surname

 

As she left she smiled

“It was lovely to talk to you”

“I’ve learnt so much”

I’m going home…..

To talk………

 

Paradise …….. Poem……..

A simple poem for the start of the week including 3 piccies from various visits to Keswick….

 

Here I sit in Paradise
Taking in the view
I could stay here forever
And one day. maybe I will

Come rain or come shine
I don’t really care
As the changing weather
Creates a different view to simply sit and stare…

No chaos, no stress
Just peace and beauty
I feel blessed
Here in my very own paradise

The Value of Peer Support……Poem

We recently had a gathering of Dementia Diarists in the beautiful peaceful setting of Woodbrooke in the heart of Birmingham. Whenever we meet, all people living with dementia, in peaceful surroundings, with the perfect and caring support provided by Innovations in Dementia, we all feel safe and calm……it might not be for everyone, in fact I wouldn’t have thought it would be for me in a former life, but all I can say to anyone is give it a go, as Peer Support could be a gateway to opportunities and friendships you never knew could exist…….

Here’s a poem I wrote and recorded for the Diaries that reflected my mood while I was there.

You can read or listen to me reading to it on the link below. Dementia Diaries contains recordings from many of my playmates from all over the country and it’s so important to remember that every voice is as important as the next……you could even volunteer to subscribe our ramblings if you have a few minutes to spare a week…….🙏

https://dementiadiaries.org/entry/12419/woodbrooke-gathering-a-poem-by-wendy

When I type……Poem revisited….

Apparently I wrote this in February 2017 and is even more true today….

People often ask me, how do I remember the detail of events to write a blog? Well I write my blog real time, on the journey, at the event and on the way home. So by the time I get home it’s all finished. I know others who have lost the power of speech and cannot go out alone, but who can still type eloquently. Thank goodness that part of my brain hasn’t been affected – long may it last…..

 

When I type
Words come freely
Fingers work quickly
No sign of dementia
When I type

When I type
I can pretend
I can be normal
You just wouldn’t know
I’m not like you

Until I stop
Until I speak
Until I walk
Until I stand before you
Reading my words………..

Never judge a book by its cover………

The Panic of Time….Poem revisited…..

I wrote this back in September 2018…….apparently…

 

I wrote this poem the other day after waking, thinking it was the early morning when it was, in fact, the  afternoon and after only a few minutes of sleep. It wasn’t a normal confusion on waking, I really didn’t know the time of day. I was totally confused and anxious. It took me a good while to work out the reality and understand what was going on. It was my new technology friend, Alexa. who helped bring me back to reality and offer calmness in the end – that was once I remembered she was there and saw the little black box on my bedside table………

The Panic of TIME

I’m peacefully asleep
Time of no importance
At peace with time
Time can disorientate
Time can confuse

But then the peace is disturbed
I awake
And Like a Jack in a Box
Time JUMPS out at me
I need to know the TIME

If I can keep track of TIME
I can keep dementia at bay
But if I lose that sense of control
That’s when it laughs in my face
That’s when dementia comes out to play

The cruel deception or the lies
Is it day time or night?
I need to know the time
I tap on my wrist
The reassuring light of my Fitbit
Illuminates the TIME

My heart rate declines
The panic decreases
I’m in control of dementia
I’m in control of TIME
I close my eyelids, hiding the wide awake eyeballs

Peace again as I drift into asleep…………

I met a young woman…..Poem revisited….

I found this poem I published back in May this year, yet needless to say I have no recollection of it……but I like it all the same so hope you don’t mind seeing it again….

 

I met a young woman
Just the other day
She sat down beside me
And we chatted away..

She seemed to know a lot about me
Asked if I’d like a nice cuppa tea
She settled down and told me about her life
So I sat and listened contentedly

It was as though she knew me
In a vague familiar way
She smiled and we compared
The years that had gone by

Of children growing up
We had so much in common
Our love of the outdoors
Our love of sport more than anyone

But as we grew older
That’s where our lives diverged and similarities end
She so private, yet with so much drive
Me so carefree, yet today I’m sat here tired of life

We finished our tea
Said our goodbyes
Wished each other luck
And then we parted

And I sat alone
Gathering my thoughts
Who was that woman…….?

Well………… that woman was me…

You also listen to me read it here on Dementia Diaries….

https://dementiadiaries.org/entry/11518/wendy-reads-a-poem-written-for-dementia-diaries

What makes me happy …….Poem

As summer approaches, school holidays begin,  the conversation on Twitter becomes quieter and I spie my calendar has empty spaces as everyone goes on holiday, it made me think of what matters,,,,,

A walk round my village
A sunny winters day
The bird feeders heaving
Each queuing for their turn

An ipad that wakes up when opened……
Time simply to type
Silence all around me
Just staring ….outside

Friendly smiles and laughter
Happy dogs and cats
A visit to my paradise
A walk to Friars Cragg

Seeing my daughters faces
And feeling Billys purr……
Nothing more relaxing
Than simply stopping to stare…..

I wonder what makes you happy?

Have you ever……..? …..Poem

Have you ever stopped and starred
At a flower open wide
And marvelled at it’s structure
And beauty inside………?

Have you ever silently watched
A raindrop weave down a pane of glass
Or the wind through the trees
With birds flying past…….?

Have you ever stopped ……
To smile at a stranger in the street
Or better still, take a seat beside them
And listen and chat happily…….?

Have you ever simply sat
And stared at the world beyond
The detail and the happenings
That otherwise would have gone……?

When did you last give yourself time to simply stop, watch and stare?
I do a lot of that nowadays….you don’t know what you’re missing……..❤️….give it a go and see what happens ………..

Reliving the past in the present……Poem….

I held a tiny baby
in my arms the other night
Along with tiny helping hands
We laughed and went about our day

The time was now
But I was young
The baby and the toddler,
My daughters, not just anyone

Voices whispering in the night
Laughing, plotting, confusing
Turning my world upside down
And I wake to the echo of silence

And think…..and look around me
It was only a dream
But nice to hold those 2 tiny humans
To relive their childhood once more…….

I met a young woman…….Poem

I met a young woman
Just the other day
She sat down beside me
And we chatted away..

She seemed to know a lot about me
Asked if I’d like a nice cuppa tea
She settled down and told me about her life
So I sat and listened contentedly

It was as though she knew me
In a vague familiar way
She smiled and we compared
The years that had gone by

Of children growing up
We had so much in common
Our love of the outdoors
Our love of sport more than anyone

But as we grew older
That’s where our lives diverged and similarities end
She so private, yet with so much drive
Me so carefree, yet today I’m sat here tired of life

We finished our tea
Said our goodbyes
Wished each other luck
And then we parted

And I sat alone
Gathering my thoughts
Who was that woman…….?

Well………… that woman was me…

You also listen to me read it here on Dementia Diaries….

https://dementiadiaries.org/entry/11518/wendy-reads-a-poem-written-for-dementia-diaries