I Am No Friend of Dementia

H. W. bryce

I am no friend of dementia,
I won’t give it a capital d,
In fact I am his sworn enemy
For what he’s done to my family.

He has always gone back on his word
And he’s never been true to me;
He’s cancelled everything that was fun,
That’s no way for a friend to be.

It is an unforgivable sin,
And a crime how he seems so sublime
How he seduces the innocent,
How he mistreats people all of the time

I am no friend of dementia,
For dementia’s been mean to me,
He’s broken all of his promises,
Which means there’s no faith in him to see.

He Says

He says he’ll lead you to safety
And that he’ll take good care of you,
But when you go down that path with him
He pulls a cruel Hallowe’en boo.

And he’s taken his big eraser
And he’s rubbed out my breakfast time,
And then when I thought it was dinner,
He up and turned around on a dime.

There on my big slate of mem-o-ries,
He has changed everything all around;
He’s rubbed out all the important dates,
And he’s left me feeling tied and bound.

So I am no friend of Dementia
He’s a double-dare, twofaced cad—
He even fools the intelligentsia—
And he’s made everyone think I’m mad

The trouble is

The trouble with dementia I tell you
Is dementia is quite demented
And I wish he’d get out of my head,
But I fear his presence is cemented.

Don’t trust him he’s just a big bully
In the very worst possible way,
He scatters your life to the wind,
And he’s no longer welcome to stay.

I want to have some peace now,
I sorely need to get me some sleep.
If I could recall where the bed is,
I’d fall into it in a big heap.

So I am no friend of Dementia
Every time I want to go somewhere,
He deliberately fails to show up.
It’s really quite too much to bear.

And when I need to remember a name,
He fiddles around with my brain;
And all of his dang’rous suggestions
Are totally, altogether in vain.

Every time I get an idea,
He scatters the pieces away,
And he blocks my way when I chase them,
So the idea can’t form and stay.

He’s a miserable thief and a cad,
Incapable of being a friend;
He’s stolen the fun out of my life
And oh how I wish it would all end.

He’s seduced all of my friends from me,
And turned my family all against me,
And you say make friends with Dementia,
While I feel like I’m in a storm at sea.

Well I am no friend of Dementia,
Dementia can go straight on to Hell,
For he’s turned my life inside out now,
And now I live my life all pell-mell.

How Come?

What prompted this tirade was an invitation on the internet to join the Friends of Dementia. Rebellious thoughts popped straight into my head. Nobody can be a FRIEND of dementia; it’s a destructive force. Hence the poem.

I also thought immediately about the use of, the terminology of, the phrase. Friend of dementia. Surely the organizers using this as their group name don’t mean it literally. They mean, of course, “Friends Fighting Dementia.” And, of course, we understand that, at once.

That’s the way I describe My Author Site and Blog: “A Voice Against Alzheimer’s.”

And, of course, I mean no offence to the good people at Friends of Dementia; they’re doing good work. One man’s opinion.

CREDIT: Clip Art: Leads to http://www.spring.org.uk/2014/08/10-ways-to-prevent-alzheimers-disease.php
I found this illustration on Clip Art, which led me to the above address, which did not credit the picture. If the artist wishes to contact me…