Not Long Ago

I watch you move with youthful ease,
No creaking bones or aching knees,
Not long ago -I could do that!

I watch you flirt with youthful grace,
No wrinkled lines upon your face,
Not long ago - I looked like that!

I watch you marry with youthful lust,
No saggy arms or drooping bust,
Not long ago - I did that!

I watch you cry at your youthful demise,
Laughter lines forming around your eyes,
Not long ago - Oh for goodness sake...I'm past all that!

Just Here In Your Sleep

You whose arm I stroke, do you love me?
Or am I just here?
Here I am, just here.
I sit, I read or I stroke your arm,
Do you love me or am I just here?
Hours, days and years,
Do you still love me?
I am just here, for you.
For me? No I am just here,
Just here to watch you sleep,
That is why I am just here...
For when you awake.

copyright GJSmy 1999 (updated 2010)

This was a poem inspired by a young woman who came to the beside of her fiance. She came for two years, until he passed away. I heard her tell him she was just here for him. He had been in a coma all that time, and I watched her hope each day.

Father Time

Time.

Time...Ticking away.

It moves forward,
taking tiny steps,
every second counts.

Larger strides? No difference,
It won't change things,
still it moves forward.

Time.

Time...Ticking away.

Moving life along,
Run, walk or crawl,
We can't rush it.

Time.

Time...Ticking away.

I won again! Symphony of Life

Joanne @ Poetic Shutterbug honoured me by choosing my entry as the grand winner.

Thank You Joanne!


Symphony of Life by Glynis Smy

Joanne has an interesting blog, pop over to read the poem and read her blog.

Is This Dad’s Christmas?

Before he entered the last stages of Alzheimer's, my father said sometimes he feels a stranger within his own family. This inspired the poem :Is This Dad's Christmas? He is about to go into a care home as he is violent and aggressive. My mother has lost a husband and I a father, but the shell is still alive.



Peering thru the banister I see into a room,

I sit quite quietly

I hear a humming tune.

Someone’s very busy

And the smell is reaching high,

Ahh that person’s baking

Some kind of special pie.

I glance along the corridor

I see another room,

I listen still and silently

I hear laughter’s happy tune.

This room looks quite different

Definitely not the same,

People are gathered there

Playing some kind of game.

The lights look very pretty

I’d love to go walking in,

My my they are having fun

Such a happy din!

Oh well perhaps another day

They’ll look up and notice me,

Maybe they’ll ask if I’d join them

Oh look a Christmas tree!

Someone’s calling out now

It’s the person cooking pie,

They want to know if I’m ok

I’m sure I heard them sigh.

I think they have invited me

I think that’s very kind,

Oh how lovely at Christmas

This stranger isn’t left behind.

The Erosion of Mind

Lapping gently around the edges,
taking a little at a time,
the waves of memory,
erode a quietened mind.

Flashback to bygone days,
to work of another kind,
memories of people,
erode a troubled mind.

Tidal waves crash at the walls,
no memory will you find,
just an empty shell of a man,
eroded-an extinguished mind.

(For my father an Alzheimer's victim)
(The Forget-me-not flower is the symbol for the society)
Photograph courtesy of:Copyright-free-photos.org.uk

Butterflies and Teddy Bears

I turned a corner and there you were,
A memory from before,
The past has stopped to say hello,
When I looked into the drawer.

Oh days of Butterflies and Teddy Bears,
Whistles, tops and shells,
Of ankle socks and sailing ships,
Home cooking, baking smells.

All I found was a postcard,
Of a visited town one year,
Isn't it amazing how,
It brought back times so dear.

Rainbow in Your Cloud

E’re you should weep in blackened world,

and time a painful sword,

lift thine eyes beyond despair,

above the cloudy skies.

Should torment and trouble,

upon thy shoulders lie,

look further, and see

a rainbow in your clouds

Copyright © GJSmy 2008