MY MOTHER

My mother now lives in many houses
We know where she lives. She doesn’t

Sitting in her chair, never moving,
Her mind wanders from house to house
Her loved and treasured pictures, statues and furniture never moving, never changing
Sometimes real,
Sometimes only copies made to delude

My mother now lives in many houses
We know where she lives. She doesn’t

The people around her are called ‘they’
People without names, lost in her wandering mind
‘They’ come and go, always there
Real to us, not so, to her

My mother now lives in many houses
We know where she lives. She doesn’t

She is my mother
To look up to
To protect me, her child
No longer
No more

My mother now lives in many houses
We know where she lives. She doesn’t

Times she listens
Times she dozes
Never really anywhere

My mother now lives in many houses
We know where she lives. She doesn’t

Hardest are times
Sitting in her chair, lost
Lost to herself,
Not knowing how she got to this house
Not knowing in which house she is
Clouded eyes
Her face covered with fright.
It is then, you want to hug and hold
Hush and calm, trying to bring reality back into her world

My mother now lives in many houses
We know where she lives. She doesn’t