https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/section-100-snapshots-of-grace Some years ago my father was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. Amidst the long bereavement that continues there are moments of self knowledge, laughter and love. These poems are part of my response. (Dad finally died on Friday 27th June 2008 at 5:15 am. These poems and others I will post remain in the hope that they will help others going through the long bereavement) en 2005-2012 shakespearesmonekys@gmail.com 42.65593 -71.33391 Tue, 09 Jun 2026 02:45:27 GMT yacs http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 70 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-11421-snapshot-18th https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-11421-snapshot-18th Sometimes I think the Haiku/senyru form and my Father belong together. His short term memory is so short now that he could not cope with any poem longer. And it is in this tiny form that I can most easily both capture and bear the pain of his aging so cruelly Jones, Paganini Snapshots of grace Tue, 26 May 2009 16:22:15 GMT /section-100-snapshots-of-grace#comments 3 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/comments/post.php/article/11421 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/comments/feed.php/article/11421 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/links/trackback.php?anchor=article%3A11421 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-2560-thoughts-on https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-2560-thoughts-on It comes to me that one day I must die Pags Snapshots of grace Wed, 02 Jul 2008 00:20:37 GMT /section-100-snapshots-of-grace#comments 6 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/comments/post.php/article/2560 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/comments/feed.php/article/2560 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/links/trackback.php?anchor=article%3A2560 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-9010-the-long-goodbye https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-9010-the-long-goodbye It started as the garden grew unkempt, tools rusting, peeling paint upon the shed. The house grew smaller month by month. Doors locked. Forgotten keepsakes lost with misplaced keys. The broken jigsaw fractured, pieces swept away. Dust everywhere as age prowled fences, waylaid life within. The toilet will not work. The air conditioning wheezes, fluctuates. Joists creak and fail. The light bulbs flicker fitfully. The mirror glass has cracked. We tiptoe round this almost empty house, lightly touching sills and frames, remembering, or settle in the window seat to watch the passing day. They say the long goodbye will soon be over now. But we aren't ready, quite to say goodbye. And you, you rage again "I-want-to want-to want-to walk" when trying to sit requires an hour of sleep. You, my childhood home, my place of comfort, shelter, joy, frustration, love, must fall to dust. Fare well. ... more Pags, IFPN Snapshots of grace Wed, 02 Jul 2008 00:17:04 GMT /section-100-snapshots-of-grace#comments 4 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/comments/post.php/article/9010 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/comments/feed.php/article/9010 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/links/trackback.php?anchor=article%3A9010 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-2561-thoughts-on https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-2561-thoughts-on And as to how Pags Snapshots of grace Tue, 01 Jul 2008 23:43:02 GMT /section-100-snapshots-of-grace#comments 2 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/comments/post.php/article/2561 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/comments/feed.php/article/2561 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/links/trackback.php?anchor=article%3A2561 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-2559-talking-of-death https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-2559-talking-of-death A 'ku of sorts to capture a moment Pags Snapshots of grace Fri, 27 Jun 2008 20:20:09 GMT /section-100-snapshots-of-grace#comments 1 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/comments/post.php/article/2559 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/comments/feed.php/article/2559 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/links/trackback.php?anchor=article%3A2559 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-2562-a-diagnosis https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-2562-a-diagnosis The only certain diagnosis is to open up the brain. Hospital staff are reluctant to do this Pags Snapshots of grace Fri, 27 Jun 2008 20:06:25 GMT /section-100-snapshots-of-grace#comments 0 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/comments/post.php/article/2562 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/comments/feed.php/article/2562 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/links/trackback.php?anchor=article%3A2562 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-5918-in-my-father-s-house https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-5918-in-my-father-s-house An old poem from, I think, before the official diagnosis but already we were becoming lost to him in little ways Pags Snapshots of grace Fri, 27 Jun 2008 20:04:18 GMT /section-100-snapshots-of-grace#comments 0 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/comments/post.php/article/5918 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/comments/feed.php/article/5918 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/links/trackback.php?anchor=article%3A5918 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-9067-haiku-24th https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-9067-haiku-24th What time is it Mr Wolf? 10 o'clock... What time is it Mr Wolf? 10 o'clock... What time is it Mr Wolf? Time to gobble you up! Pags, IFPN Snapshots of grace Fri, 27 Jun 2008 19:56:47 GMT /section-100-snapshots-of-grace#comments 4 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/comments/post.php/article/9067 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/comments/feed.php/article/9067 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/links/trackback.php?anchor=article%3A9067 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-7171-the-why-of-it https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-7171-the-why-of-it Based on a small conversation last evening at bedtime Pags Snapshots of grace Fri, 27 Jun 2008 09:37:30 GMT /section-100-snapshots-of-grace#comments 7 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/comments/post.php/article/7171 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/comments/feed.php/article/7171 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/links/trackback.php?anchor=article%3A7171 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-5894-we-don-t-eat-our-peas-with-honey https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-5894-we-don-t-eat-our-peas-with-honey This is the way we eat our peas Pags Snapshots of grace Fri, 27 Jun 2008 09:33:12 GMT /section-100-snapshots-of-grace#comments 3 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/comments/post.php/article/5894 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/comments/feed.php/article/5894 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/links/trackback.php?anchor=article%3A5894 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-2777-an-importance-of-mint-imperials https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-2777-an-importance-of-mint-imperials Dad was admitted to hospital for a minor operation. The following afternoon we visted him and discovered there were mint imperials in one of his shoes. Of course he had no memory as to why he had put them there so we invented a few possibilities. And yes. They roll a long way across hard ward floors! Pags Snapshots of grace Sun, 16 Dec 2007 22:37:52 GMT /section-100-snapshots-of-grace#comments 8 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/comments/post.php/article/2777 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/comments/feed.php/article/2777 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/links/trackback.php?anchor=article%3A2777 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-5811-francis https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-5811-francis Inspired by tonights visit to Rehab to visit Dad Pags Snapshots of grace Sun, 11 Nov 2007 04:31:47 GMT /section-100-snapshots-of-grace#comments 2 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/comments/post.php/article/5811 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/comments/feed.php/article/5811 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/links/trackback.php?anchor=article%3A5811 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-2558-struggle https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-2558-struggle A 'ku to catch the moment Pags Snapshots of grace Fri, 05 Oct 2007 23:27:47 GMT /section-100-snapshots-of-grace#comments 0 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/comments/post.php/article/2558 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/comments/feed.php/article/2558 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/links/trackback.php?anchor=article%3A2558 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-2778-holiday https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-2778-holiday One of those 'haiku moments'. If i can, I'll post the photograph too Pags Snapshots of grace Tue, 03 Jul 2007 19:29:19 GMT /section-100-snapshots-of-grace#comments 1 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/comments/post.php/article/2778 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/comments/feed.php/article/2778 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/links/trackback.php?anchor=article%3A2778 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-2563-memory-lane https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-2563-memory-lane they're building a car park on memory lane Pags Snapshots of grace Wed, 21 Feb 2007 22:19:57 GMT /section-100-snapshots-of-grace#comments 0 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/comments/post.php/article/2563 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/comments/feed.php/article/2563 https://dev.shakespearesmonkeys.com/links/trackback.php?anchor=article%3A2563