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You are here: Home / Poetry / God, Diagnosed With Dementia
God, Diagnosed With Dementia

Poetry

God, Diagnosed With Dementia

You know he forgets names,
where he left the keys.
Some days floods cover
land he says would never drown
again. He hears my prayers
then asks me to repeat,
calling it a refrain. I abstain 
from meat and wine for forty days
hoping to reset my soul.
I try not to use my lover's name
in vain. And yet I curse 
the man who forgets my birthday,
forgets to pick up after the dog.
Senescence is such a sonic
word I hate to discover
its meaning. I hate 
every diagnosis that dares
doubt to double over,
bruising bare knees.

Beth Oast Williams’s poetry has been accepted for publication in Leon Literary Review, SWWIM Everyday, Wisconsin Review, Glass Mountain, GASHER, Fjords Review, and Rattle’s Poets Respond, among others. Her poems have been nominated twice for the Pushcart Prize. Her first chapbook, Riding Horses in the Harbor, was published in 2020.

Featured Artwork:

Diamond

Edward Michael Supranowicz is the grandson of Irish and Russian/Ukrainian immigrants. He grew up on a small farm in Appalachia. He has a grad background in painting and printmaking. Some of his artwork has recently or will soon appear in Fish Food, Streetlight, Another Chicago Magazine, The Door Is A Jar, The Phoenix, and The Harvard Advocate. Edward is also a published poet.

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