Grandma's Piano

A poem about Alzheimer's Disease

Arthritic fingers rest gently on keys

Recollecting long ago movements

Across black and white.

Fingers stretch, knobby knuckles crack.

Brain, with tangled ganglia,

Makes fingers move again.

Neuron pathways formed and since forgotten

Light up and dust off some Bach.

 

For a moment . . .

She remembers who she was.

Chintz curtains filtering sunlight

As she played an old upright in the parlor

Through years of smiles and tears endured

While some Nazi told her to move or to stay.

She can see me . . .

 

As bumpy fingers depress keys

Eyes glaze

And she is gone again.

Alone

With ganglia which have long betrayed her,

As Bach does now.

Fingers crank into stillness

Until the next time.

Reviews

[Neva Flores Smith - Cha..]

Audrey, this brought tears to my eyes. I am beginning to get arthritis in my fingers and frankly it scares me........how will I write? I pictured myself as this woman but with a pen or a keyboard.......heart touching piece. I just went back to read it again and noticed what it is about, Arthritis jumped out at me first.......Alzheimer's would be devastating.

[Judy Ponceby]

Exquisitely portrayed. That thief steals so much, its wonderful how you treasure the lucid moments in this write, but acknowledge how they are only brief moments interspersed throughout the days. A tough heartbreaking subject addressed beautifully and sadly.