Blank Mind

I remembered him – 

And said hello but he stared at me unflinching. 

With blank eyes. 

I remembered him- 

But from where? 

Images of faces I’d met over the past several weeks turned like pages of a photo album in my mind – 

I smiled. 

He stared. 

I searched. 

then I found him. 

He is sitting across from me at an Adult Respite Center, where I volunteered a few weeks back.

His face is stern and unwilling, as we played cards

His lips are impatient and quivering, as we painted the mini-birdhouses.

His steps, however, are strides.

His gait is fast as we walked toward the music room. 

I remember the music – 

the piano playing tunes from the 60s and 70s

And I remember him

Like his feet remembered the music.

Others sat. 

But he danced, 

His waist twisting

His feet twirling

His face enraptured by another time- 

Maybe his youth  

Or maybe the night he danced with his lover and drank in the beauty of their face – pledging never to forget.

He has forgotten.

Images and memories have been wiped clean – leaving a blank mind. 

I said hello.

He stared at me unflinching. Blank. 

He is in there somewhere… 

hopefully, listening to music. 

Alzheimer’s