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C.E. Skilling

Blackness

Upon the wall
     they hung from crooked nails
     Images from their past
     smiling faces and sailing sails

He remembered those times so clearly
     like reflections on a magical lake of rhyme
     they rippled and danced
     for a moment, and then a time

The memories of this old man
     shone like the stars in the heavens above
     causing smiles that once filled her heart
     and he remembered the days of their youthful love

Out into the night he would walk
     forgetting where he was
     Alzheimer’s had claimed his future
     and even now his memories were covered in fuzz

There were those that followed him
     keeping him safe and sound
     for soon all his memories would be gone
     and his identity will not be found

But here, before the night claims him
     he will remember her gentle face
     smile at the memory of a silly joke
     and even smell her, if only a trace

Remember me my love
     he whispers into the night
     imagining the echo of her voice
     and the feeling of her arms, as she held him tight

And the blackness waited … for a while