Didn't Like To Say

The windows painted open by the council

They didn't like to say

No heating but a coal fire

They didn't like to say

Single glazing draughty frames

Old bathroom we'll fit our own shower

They didn't like to say

Pay the rent for 50 years

Fit a kitchen themselves

Someone else said the house is unfit

They didn't like a fuss

Finally windows and central heating in

He dies and leaves her alone

Dementia creeps in

No one likes to know

They didn't like to say

Don't face it say nothing 

She didn't like to say

Until she can't cook them 

A nice Sunday lunch

They didn't like to say.

J Oliver 2022 

Die, Die Dementia, a poem by Joanne Oliver

Die, Die Dementia

There’s one true path they say

No: a maze of paths with no clear way

I like the grass, the sand and mud

The random walking does me good

Hard pavements hurts my feet and soul

I get no closer to my goal

By staying on the well worn street

There'd be fixed challenges I'd meet

Neurones lose their links and wither

If I don’t digress and dither

Embrace the new, and drop the old

Watch as stories new unfold

My brain’s in danger this I know

If I don’t force it to grow

New links and circuits every day

To keep the ATD at bay

It may be futile what I’m trying

But it’s better than sitting crying

Thinking I’m going like she did

While from the truth my family hid.

Heard the words from her “who’s that”

As she spied me in my wedding hat.

I  hope my son never hears that from me.

I know I’ll write some poetry!

I Remember ..a poem about loss of power, aging.

I Remember

The times you told me what to do

How and when to speak

Instructing etiquette down the Club

How as a girl, to be meek

I saw that power fade as I grew

A teen who formed new views.

But failed to see, the change in me

Was smaller than the change in you.

As years went on you lost your way

Conversations faltered.

Your comprehension of our words,

Your view of life had altered.

As in a bubble you now live

We try to call to you.

And act as gatekeepers to the world

To stop it hurting you.