Remember the days of easy innocence, where summer was our whiskey
The sky of red and orange and pale purple as the sun set was intoxicating

"Light the fire!" she cries, her hair a golden flame of itself, tasseled and wild-
"Lord of the flies," now she cries, "lord of the flies"

And sometimes we'd be alone but never lonely
Or at least we never realized
Lady Southwest with the chestnut eyes
She's missed it all but somehow endured-

And here I am
I linger on the wonder of little things, and hide behind my boundaries with thoughts that nothing could ever harm me, here

If my Valentine you won't be,
I'll hang myself on your Christmas tree.

Remember when
we were so comfortable
underneath the mid day sun
at one of our favourite festivals

the bands had long stopped
but the music still danced in our hearts
lifting our spirits to the heavens
and giving praise to this beautiful day.

we had all gathered together
but not to say goodbye;

to lay in the sweet grass
and
hold on, by the tips of our fingers
for just a few more hours...
and

get a little high

with the sun's rays ablaze and
no current riding our open backs
your skin was like wildfire
captivating, shimmering in the light

those UV rays got nothin' on you

i laid at your side with a bag
filled of sweet & sticky treats
..an archive of sorts
and asked what was your tongue's favourite taste

the finest of delights fit for a queen
sometimes require a perfect surface
and the way your black hair glimmered that day
i couldn't help but see you
as my little Cleopatra

your curves creating shadows
upon the dimples of your back
i asked if you'd mind, with a zig-zag in my hand

and you looked at me.

and you smiled.

Laying still in my bed, I do not recognize who is laying there
Unrecognizable to my eyes, pulling a blank in my mind
Someone who once looked so familiar is now a stranger.

There’s a sadness where it once was happy
A pessimist that once was positive
A person that I used to enjoy.

The unaccepting stare is not welcoming
The negative thoughts are not comforting
The utter confusion is all but wanted.

Time goes by and no help is asked for
No changes occur
Nothing.

Finally change hits me, but still no better
For this confusion is now frustration
And this person is growing more distant.

Anger for having expectations
Anger for not caring anymore
Anger for giving up on them.

Falling off the bed, hitting the hard floor below
The only place to go is up
Until the floor falls from underneath me.

I try to stand, but don’t have the strength
I try to speak, but don’t have the courage
I try to listen, but don’t have the patience.

Finally at the bottom I look up
The eyes of the stranger are staring,
Peering inside of me.

Trying to make sense of it all
Understanding who this person is
Though difficult, I recognize them

Denial hits, I cannot accept it
I refuse to admit what I see
Because what I see is me.

His whiskey-stained breath poetically reciting his thoughts.
"Everything has a beginning and everything has an end."

A little bird flies and sits momentarily on a branch.
"If that isn't a beautiful omen, then I don't know what is."

The shadow marking the betrayal of the sun disappears on the mountains.
"Now people are waking up to the sun's rays on another side of the world."

A sunset. A goodbye here

-

A hello somewhere else.

Michael sent his uncle Old Jim to the Greenland Retirement Village on 19 January 2014. The next day, Michael visited his Uncle and also spoke with the staff. The monologues below relate events from two perspectives.*


Senior Staff :
Your Uncle seems very much at ease
in our retirement home
Many residents are nervous and uncertain
on their first days but your Uncle
seems to feel very much at home
But just one thing we observed though:
when we bring him out to rest on a chair
he leans a little to the left
and we so promptly help him sit straight;
and then he sways a little to the right
and we swiftly help him sit straight
for we don't want him to fall -
and this goes on; we’d need
to get a specialist in
to see if his spine is OK



Old Jim:
I don’t mind it here – they take good care of me
What did they tell you?
My spine? My ****!
These ******* don’t le me ****!