The Memory Clinic *
Set apart and distanced
by a woolly hat in a warm room
passive and perplexed he waits
with ‘why and when’
nipping at his worried heel.
Then Doreen, hand placed gently on his knee
calm and caring from her bag produces
flask and sandwiches
and in that brief distracted rest
from ’why and when’ the two hold hands
and picnic in the past.
* Commended Poem in the Hippocrates Prize 2017
The Hippocrates Press 2017
"In this poem, the disorientation of memory loss is turned into something peaceful and almost celebratory, a remarkable transformation." Matt Barnard , British Life in Poetry Col 38
Set apart and distanced
by a woolly hat in a warm room
passive and perplexed he waits
with ‘why and when’
nipping at his worried heel.
Then Doreen, hand placed gently on his knee
calm and caring from her bag produces
flask and sandwiches
and in that brief distracted rest
from ’why and when’ the two hold hands
and picnic in the past.
* Commended Poem in the Hippocrates Prize 2017
The Hippocrates Press 2017
"In this poem, the disorientation of memory loss is turned into something peaceful and almost celebratory, a remarkable transformation." Matt Barnard , British Life in Poetry Col 38
From ' Bones&Pyramids
Milligan
A cat from the wrong side of town
abandoned at an early age
he lived on scraps from bins
waste from Indian take-aways
stealing when he could
starving when he could not
slept in boxes on the streets
a loner longing for a home.
Rescued he savoured the warmth
the company, the food
but then familiar odour sensed
he strikes and drags to floor
not madeleine in tea but Proustian memory
of large Peshwari Naan.
First published in the October 2018 issue of 'Now Then'
A cat from the wrong side of town
abandoned at an early age
he lived on scraps from bins
waste from Indian take-aways
stealing when he could
starving when he could not
slept in boxes on the streets
a loner longing for a home.
Rescued he savoured the warmth
the company, the food
but then familiar odour sensed
he strikes and drags to floor
not madeleine in tea but Proustian memory
of large Peshwari Naan.
First published in the October 2018 issue of 'Now Then'