Still Here

Dedicated to my mother-in-law. A life lived wonderfully, but now lost in those distant memories

The memories slip away like morning fog,
each treasured moment fading into grey.
A lifetime's stories, once so clear and sharp,
now whisper fragments of a yesterday.

I watch you search my face for who I am,
Your eyes hold questions I cannot answer,
the mother who once kissed away my tears,
now asks me gently, "Do I know you, dear?"

My heart breaks watching you try so hard
to grasp the words that dance beyond your reach,
you know there's something you should remember,
But can't quite find what you're trying to teach.

Some days you're almost back—you call my name,
you smile and tell me stories from before,
then evening comes and takes you far away
to places I can't follow anymore.

I hold your hand and tell you that it's fine,
that love doesn't need memory to be true,
while inside I'm grieving for the talks
we'll never have, the woman I once knew.

In scattered pieces of their former selves,
we glimpse the souls that still reside within,
for though the illness steals their memories,
it cannot touch the love that's always been.

The cruellest thief that robs us of our past,
yet cannot steal the moment we are in,
where dignity lives on in gentle care,
and every small connection is a win.

So we bear witness to their fading light,
we honour who they were and who they are,
we find the person underneath the loss,
and love them close, however near or far.