Reasons to Come, Shake my Hand

Posted on November 13, 2017 by admin

 

Reasons to Come, Shake my Hand

The collection of poems in this book will tremendously help and offer support to others who are experiencing this struggle with their loved ones.

Mr. Bryce has painted, with his beautiful poetry, a picture of the sorrows and joys; the ups and downs of caring for one who has Alzheimer’s. I highly recommend this beautiful and heartfelt tribute to Ann, and to the enduring love she and Mr. Bryce hold so dear. Chasing A Butterfly is indeed a true and lasting tribute to that love. Bravo, Mr. Bryce ~ a beautiful book, indeed.
–Deborah L. Kelly, Poet/Artist/Writer, North Vancouver, BC

One of the ‘gifts’ of the dementia journey is our opportunity to be able to show compassion and care because of the relationship and love that is already there. Thank you for being so generous in sharing your amazing ability to capture so many of the sentiments of care giving in your poetry!
–Dorothy Leclair, Alzheimer’s leader, Burnaby BC

Your writings are a true inspiration to those of us still on this long journey. I can connect with your words as you really know what it is like. You bring humor and hope to such a dreadful disease. You have travelled the journey and your poems give me the feeling of someone to talk to and calm my fears. I thank you from the bottom of my heart.
–Marilyn Brewer, care giver to her husband, New Brunswick

So well said! And, thank you, for all you do to bring attention to the world of Alzheimer’s and to the families effected. You are a beacon for many looking for their way in this journey!
–Elaine Hodgkins Fitzgerald, Jay, Maine

AND REMEMBER: A portion of all proceeds from “Chasing a Butterfly” by H. W. Bryce sales will go to the Alzheimer’s Society of BC. The people from there were of invaluable service to me in my time of need.

I do hope to see you there, SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2017.
I will be there, hand at the ready, from 1:00 to 2:00 p.m.

My fellow local writers will be there during the hours of 10:00 am. to 5:00 p.m. Please support them.

Black Bond Books, Haney Place Mall, Maple Ridge, BC
Corner of Lougheed Highway and 224 Street.

NOVEMBER 18, 2017. See you Nov. 18, 2017.

Posted in Advocacy, Advocate, Alzheimer's, Book Signing, Books, Care Giving, Dementia, Elderly, Featured poet, Friendship, Loss, Love, Memoir, Memories, Memory, Poetry, Remembering, Service | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Come, Shake My Hand

Posted on November 10, 2017 by admin

 

Come, Shake Our Hand

Come, yon Reader, meet our merry band,
We have treats, so come and shake our hand.

Come and find a reading treat,
To buy a book’s an easy feat.

We’ll read, we’ll sign, we’ll even hug,
Because it’s true, you’ve got the reading bug.

See You there.

–Herb

Come, Shake Our Hand

Appearing with thirteen fellow writers, all local area authors,

in Black Bond Books’ MEET LOCAL AUTHORS Day.

Come on along; bring friends.

My hour starts at 1:00 PM, along with fellow writer/poet
John Knapp.

Haney Place Mall, Maple Ridge, BC
Lougheed Hy from 224th St. to 226th St.

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Posted in Advocate, Alzheimer's, author site, Books, Care Giving, Caring, Celebration, Featured poet, Memories, My butterfly, Poetry, Remembering | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Last Post

Posted on November 6, 2017 by admin

 

 

Last Post

Last Post

LAST POST – The Words

By H. W. Bryce

Offered in honour of all war veterans.

Goodbye, dear soul. You have fought the good fight and won the day.
You carried our flag and you fought with valour. We salute you. Now we’ll carry the torch on high
to cast light on the darkness of evil for country and peace. Like you, we shall try to car-ry
on even though we are afraid. You have won us a new sunrise and we shall seize an-oth-er day. Your
work is done and you’ve done us proud. End of day we shall remember you. Dear sou-
-oul. Goodbye. Now go to your rest. Sleep.

— —

I offer this in reverence.

I remember my mother’s father, Wilfrid Lenton, and her two brothers, Wilfrid and Richard;
and My father, Herbert Leslie Bryce, and two of his brothers, Alfred and Raymond.

This is the extent of my knowledge of family military history.

May they rest in peace.

 

Posted in Advocacy, Alzheimer's, Care Giving, Dementia, Memories, Poetry, Remembrance, Service, Thank you, War and peace | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Lost in the Moment

Posted on November 3, 2017 by admin

 

Lost in the Moment

Lost in the Moment

H. W. Bryce

I dream of every precious moment when we meet,
I picture me, as I sweep her off her feet,
I picture her, as she dissolves in happy tears.

“Yet every time I brave myself, for that moment
When she appears, then I’m lost within that moment
When once again the time just disappears.”*

And I wallow there, lost in love and wonderment
Of her beauty, that she loves me, and is it meant?
She smiles and I am stuck as if pinned by spears.

Oh, the pain of love is so exquisite, yet so pure
To render man so useless that he can’t endure
The pleasure that is love as love just now appears.

Lost in the moment, my life now hangs suspended,
Clinging to that moment, as if my life depended
Upon that moment when that vision reappears.

Then at that moment when the clock strikes that time, and sears,
She appears, a vision, and I dissolve in sweet, sweet tears;
It makes my heart ache with love. Lost in the moment.

— —

*These are the words of my friend Joe Brazeal, whose wife is fighting Alzheimer’s. Thanks Joe.

Raising funds to fight Alzheimer’s: Chasing a Butterfly, book by H. W. Bryce, with the Poetry of Alzheimer’s and Poems for Everybody, is available at 
goo.gl/nexsF4 and http://bit.ly/2jQpFxS
A percentage of each book purchase is contributed to the Alzheimer’s Society of BC for research and people support.
Mr. Bryce was a judge at the 2017 Rabindranath Tagore Award International, English Poetry (India).
— —

Continue reading →

Posted in Advocate, Alzheimer's, Care Giving, Caring, Dementia, Dreams, Lost, Love, Memories, Overwhelmed, Poetry | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Hallowe’en to Hell

Posted on October 30, 2017 by admin

 

Hallowe'en to Hell

Hallowe’en to Hell

I took this beautiful woman home
For to share our Hallowe’en haul
But when she removed her hallowe’én face
She revealed herself witch
She cackled with such utter glee,
for she had most certainly fooled me,
And her rotting teeth rattled as she spoke: spake
“I’ve rabble to rouse, spirits to spook,
Your soul to take, a broom and steps to juke*.”

It was a murder of a date
And I feared my life to be at stake
Her eyeballs danced in their hollow sockets
And her words burned like Halowe’en rockets,
And her fingernails screeched through the air
She was a spectre on a tear!

She took me on a frightful ride
Disguised as a disheveled bride,
Through graveyards to a spooky party
Where crows and ravens were eating hearty,
Upon a corpse that writhed and moaned
‘Twere enough to make a grizzly groan.

She cavorted with dancing skeletons
Who, with all their kind would never weigh a ton,
And they all were laughing quite out of tune
And each took a turn to croon –
All to the rattling of a hollow jukebox –
No use telling them to pick up their socks.

They toasted their saints, each her and him,
By drinking the blood of their victims
And feeding the bats with baby’s eyeballs
While calling the rats with wild wolf calls
And by floating in space upside down
To make their smiles look like frowns.

I found a bottle of captain’s rum
And swizzled the entire bottle down
To hide the terror before my eyes –
This hell would frighten even the wise…

I woke up under a gravestone that said
My name ever so grave, I died on Hallowe’en 1946…..
And when I moved, I rattled like a pile of bricks,
Here I was, now made of bare bones and sticks.

So if you go out on Hallowe’en night,
You’d better go out prepared,
For should you ever meet up with that witch,
You’ll die at the hands of that bitch.

— —

Credit: Steve Dent saved to Character sketches
Сказочная коллекция – filinova.com

Happy Hallowe’en everybody. Keep safe your littlies, your elderlies, your doggies and your kitties.
Especially, watch over your sick and your frail, and your Alzheimer’s stricken who might relate.
Hang up your garlic rings, keep your wooden stake close to hand, and wear your golden cross.
And make sure that under your feet, you never grow any moss.

*juke: dance, especially to the music of a jukebox: a middle-aged couple juked to the music

Raising funds to fight Alzheimer’s: Chasing a Butterfly, book by H. W. Bryce, with the Poetry of Alzheimer’s and Poems for Everybody, is available at
goo.gl/nexsF4 and http://bit.ly/2jQpFxS
A percentage of each book purchase is contributed to the Alzheimer’s Society of BC for research and people support.
Mr. Bryce was a judge at the 2017 Rabindranath Tagore Award International, English Poetry (India).
Further reading at #caregiver #dementia #Alzheimer’s

— —

Posted in Alzheimer's, Care Giving, Celebration, Cobwebs, Dementia, Hallow'en, Mystery, Poetry, Trauma | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

I Am…the dew

Posted on October 28, 2017 by admin

I Am the Dew

I Am…the dew

I am healthy, I am whole,
I am rain, I am snow,
And hail and sleet and waves;
I am the dew upon your lash,
And I am here.

And if and when comes the time,
Let the church’s bell chime,
It won’t be that I am leaving
It’ll be that I am taken,
But I am here.

You may cry, you may weep,
You may never sleep,
But I’m the tear from your eye
That trembles on your lash,
And I am here.

You may lose your norm,
You may be the storm,
The wind of change may blow away,
But I am the breeze upon your cheek,
And I am here.

You may see the trouble coming,
You may’nt feel like humming,
You may feel your strength is crumbling,
But I’m that second wind you feel,
And I’m here.

You may be feeling lost in strife,
You may feel that life is not your life,
You may think disease has won the battle,
But I’m the one who gives you strength,
And I am here.

Sometimes the hurt can get you down,
Sometimes you feel that you’re a clown,
Life sometimes can be so cruel,
Life and death is everybody’s duel.

But do not let it keep you down,
You can smile all through that frown
Because your will is stronger than,
And I’m your Number One fan,
And I’m here.

You can lean on me, I’m always here,
Count on me, I’m always near,
I’m sticking close, I love you dear,
I am your friend, and I am here.

I’m the candy cane you feel upon your tongue,
I’m the reason that you feel so young,
I’m the warm and fuzzy feel of love,
I’m the sound of flapping wings of doves.

I am rain, I am snow
And wind and rain, and crow,
I am the meadow lark, forget-me-not,
I am the dew upon your lips,
And I am here.

And I’m here. And I’m here.
I’m everywhere you’re here,
I am the dew upon your lash,
I hope that I am not too brash,
But I’m here.

I am that wisp of cooling air,
That whisper in your ear,
I am that silent prayer
And the love you hold so dear,
I am the beat inside your heart,
The very pulse you feel.

And if and when comes the time,
Let the church’s bell chime,
It won’t be that you are leaving
It’ll be that you are being taken,
But I am here.

I am the dew upon your lash
And I will not let you crash.
Take my message to your heart,
You and I will never part.

–H. W. Bryce

*These lines are borrowed from my very good Facebook friend Deborah Solberg – “She’s still with you. That wisp of cool air. The whisper in your ear. That silent prayer,” written to a grieving friend on the loss of his sister.

CREDIT: Pixabay free commons

Raising funds to fight Alzheimer’s: Chasing a Butterfly, book by H. W. Bryce, with the Poetry of Alzheimer’s and Poems for Everybody, is available at goo.gl/nexsF4 and http://bit.ly/2jQpFxS
Mr. Bryce was a judge at the 2017 Rabindranath Tagore Award International, English Poetry (India).
A percentage of each book purchase is contributed to the Alzheimer’s Society of BC for research and people support.
Further reading at #caregiver #dementia #Alzheimers

Posted in Advocacy, Alzheimer's, Care Giving, Dementia, Elderly, Hope, Memories, Poetry | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

An Angel Weeps

Posted on October 23, 2017 by admin

 

An Angel Weeps

AN ANGEL WEEPS

H. W. Bryce

Oh cry for the angel,
Cry for the angel who weeps
Each time a conscience sleeps.
Oh cry now for the angel

For every angry word, an angel weeps,
For every double cross, an angel weeps,
Every time you lie, and angel’s tear drops,
And for every cruel act, an angel’s heart stops.

Each time a punch is thrown, an angel weeps,
Each time a grudge is on the creeps,
An angel’s heart, sinks into the deeps
And her hopes drop onto the heaps.

Oh hear the sobs as an angel weeps,
Let not her heartbreak be for keeps,
Have compassion for her heart,
Let us do our better part.

Oh cry for the angel,
Cry for the angel who weeps
Each time a conscience sleeps.
Oh cry now for the angel.

An angel weeps

For every broken heart, an angel weeps,
For every broken child, an angel weeps,
Every sin makes disappointment grow,
And her halo loses a bit of glow.

Listen closely now,
An angel speaks.
Listen closely and you will hear
How an angel speaks.
Between her sobs
With a voice that bobs,
And an angel speaks.
Listen closely now
And you will hear how an angel peaks…

We must do better now, we must relearn the art of love.
Love is all encompassing, love is more than a free white dove.
We must not make the angels cry, they do watch over us,
And each of us has an angel’s soul, it’s god’s great gift to us.

But for every person with disease,
And every family suffering with,
For every refugee still on the road
And for every victim everywhere,
An angel weeps.

Sitting at the left of God, an angel weeps.
She sees how people fail their God.
She sees the jealousy, the seven sins…
At God’s left side, an angel weeps.

Oh cry for the angel,
Cry for the angel who weeps
Each time a conscience sleeps.
Oh, cry now for the angel
— —

CREDIT: Pixabay free commons

Raising funds to fight Alzheimer’s:

Chasing a Butterfly, book by H. W. Bryce, with the Poetry of Alzheimer’s and Poems for Everybody, is available at goo.gl/nexsF4  and http://bit.ly/2jQpFxS
Mr. Bryce was a judge at the 2017 Rabindranath Tagore Award International, English Poetry (India).

A percentage of each book purchase is contributed to the Alzheimer’s Society of BC for research and people support.

Further reading at   #caregiver   #dementia   #Alzheimers

Posted in Advocacy, Alzheimer's, Angels, Dementia, Grieving, Memories, Poetry, Remembrance | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments