Tremulous times

So much for peace.
When the poorest and the least opportuned people
Have had enough and hate replaces hope
(the worm turns)
And fireworks explode
Tempers no longer tempered
Do imprudent things
Thinking is as thinking does
And revenge
replaces
righteousness…

Thoughts become bombs and bombs create…death!
Destruction in the mind destroys clear thought…

But all is orderly in the war room, plans are all laid out:
Send Troop A to Region One, apply the bombs in Sector Two,
Take them out by storm and it’s all over but the shout.
Line them up, make them stand like trees along the avenue,
Place our guards four square in place, things will run right straight.
Follow orders everyone, all is orderly in our pleasant state.

And Dora asked, “Why is he like this?
He was never like this. He was a good man.
But now he is not the man I married.
Now his behavior is too varied.
Before, he was a gentle man, a kind man,
Why does he behave like this?
I can’t follow him.
I don’t understand…”

Tremulous times we live in.
The whole world has a headache,
There’s turmoil in the head,
And both are just about
To land in the looney bin.

In the field the troops get lost, they do not see the salvos come.
Turmoil churns the turf, the war planes strafe the troops.
All is lost in a haze of noise, and clouds of shrapnel’s shouts…
And the surviving few are left to die.

So much for peace.
When the poorest and the least opportuned of folk
Have had enough and hate replaces hope,
The worm infects the brain
Until it can take no more
and
the worm turns,
And fireworks explode!
Tempers no longer tempered
Do imprudent things.
Thinking is as thinking does
And revenge
replaces
righteousness…

Thoughts become bombs and bombs create…death!
Destruction in the mind destroys clear thought…
We live in tremulous times…

Meanwhile, back at home:

And David writhes in pain and tortured mind,
The flashes in his head
Explode with excruciating pain.
He cannot speak
Nor stop his writhing brain.
He reaches out
And grabs…nothing else but air.
He stumbles as he walks
And scrapes his shoulder
On the corner of the door…

And Dora shakes her head.
“Come back to me,” she pleads,
“I need you still…
But you cannot hear my plea,
You cannot speak your voice.
Poor man you are stricken
ill,
and I don’t know
what
to do…”

Tremulous times are these,
Tremulous times indeed.
War and peace—
Incompatible…

Something has to give…

And all the while poor Dora
Prays for peace at home.
And David,
Who never went to war,
Remembers
Everything…
And every thing is
Naught.
…Nothing.

–H. W. Bryce

— dedicated to the Alzheimer’s afflicted and to the wounded warriors.

Alzheimer’s Awareness month.

There is still time. It is still September –
Chasing a Butterfly is still available at
Amazon: goo.gl/nexsF4     and Friesen Press:  http://bit.ly/2jQpFxS

And a percentage of sales still go to the Alzheimer’s Society.

Alzheimer’s in the United States

1-in-9 Americans over 65 has Alzheimer’s disease. (Alzheimer’s Association)
When the first wave of baby boomers reaches age 85 (in 2031), it is projected that more than 3 million people age 85 and older will have Alzheimer’s. (Alzheimer’s Association)
One-third of Americans over age 85 are afflicted with the illness. (Alzheimer’s Association)
5.3 million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s disease. (Alzheimer’s Association)

Image from Pickit