Dear St. Dymphna

an Alzheimer’s Prayer

You are not the simple country girl
doe-eyed on the prayer card

but a closet organizer, one who
takes a battered shoebox full

of memories to draw a clock face,
remembering the way fingers clasp

when they are joined in prayer.
I think of you as a carpenter

who crafts a carved gothic vault
inside the mind’s dark nave, the candle

waiting to be relit, a voice passing
in a litany of saints, a labyrinth’s thread.

I see you there always reaching out,
but how hard it is to recollect your name.

Dear St. Dymphna is dedicated to Bruce Meyer's father Homer Meyer who passed away 2006. Homer Meyer was an electrical engineer and wrote numerous codes and international standards as well as designing major hydraulic projects such as the lift system on the Canso Causeway in Nova Scotia.

Bruce Meyer has published 34 books including three last fall: Alphabestiary: A Poetry Emblem Book (with H. Masud Taj, Exile Editions), The White Collar Book: Canadian Poetry and Prose of the Professional World (with Carolyn Meyer, Black Moss Press), and A Book of Bread (Exile Editions). He was a national bestseller in 2000 with The Golden Thread: A Reader’s Journey Through the Great Books (Harper Collins). He is a professor of English at Georgian College in Barrie Ontario where he teaches in the Laurentian University BA Program. Meyer is the inaugural Poet Laureate of the City of Barrie.

Confused the Hours by Huw Parsons

It’s seldom that I see her,
Except there in the mirror.
It’s then I glimpse the mysterious face,
Of that woman who’s taking over my place.

She stole money from my purse and more deceives,
Pulled the rug from my feet and lost the keys.
Such pure pandemonium and to make me a mockery,
Piles high the sink with my best broken crockery.

She eats my food, so I hide it in the shed
And leaves out in the rain almost every book I've read.
Much mayhem, mischief and misunderstanding,
In all of which this witch has had a hand in.

Every night as I sleep she's standing by the bed,
So such vivid dreams they flicker through my head -
Whilst downstairs an army of furniture removers,
Shifts the heavy sofa through some tight manoeuvres.

She’s touched the clocks, confused the hours
And tampered with the fairest flowers.
So my roses ‘Peace’ and ‘Ena Harkness,’
Now in the garden bloom in darkness.

And like a full moon she can curdle fresh milk
And is even stranger than the shore of Acker Bilk.
To her ailments she’s a martyr, quite the little Joan of Arc,
So I search the drawers for tinder and some means to make a spark!

Proud to start the New Year with this poem and painting honoring his mother Marjorie Parsons by the Welsh artist and writer Huw Parsons. Not only is Parsons a talented poet and painter, he also embarks on delightful poetry projects like "chalking up" poems all over the town of Brecon.

For More info on the poetry and painting of Huw Parsons and to see images of his poetry projects click here.

Huw Parsons was born in 1954 and grew up in Llyswen, a village some ten miles or so west of Hay on Wye. He was educated at Brecon Boys’ Grammar School and Chelsea College of Art. He’s worked as a painter, filmmaker, lecturer, antique dealer, watch repairer and an author and photographer.

In many ways Huw is neither ‘fish nor fowl.’ As a border person he thinks of himself as being neither wholly English nor particularly Welsh and because of his life’s diversity has become a social impostor and a cultural chameleon. As for writing he believes that he’s no particular gift, except for having a dogged determination, combined with being observant, having a good ear and an ability to write in simple, descriptive English. His literary influences include the poems of John Betjeman and Phillip Larkin, the novels of Leslie Thomas and the song lyrics of Sting and Jake Thackray.

STARRY NIGHT POEM

STARRY NIGHT
This poem was created as part of the Meet Me at MoMA project. New York poet Gary Glazner and Francesca Rosenberg, MoMA Director of Community and Access Programs, led the session. Van Gogh's panting "Starry Night," served as the inspiration for the poem. Questions were asked around what the participants felt while looking at the painting and what stars might, taste, smell and sound like. The participant’s answers form the lines of the poem.

Appreciative.
Very calm- and yet there’s turmoil.
A little suspect, a little sinister,
something evil about it, that plant.
Confusing.

A star tastes delicious.
A star tastes like a milky way.

If I had a thought, I would but you’re okay
so you can get away.

A star smells like peanut butter.
You’ve got to do it.

The stars sound like full heritage.
Everyone looks at a star and dreams.

A star sounds like a symphony.

The painting is soothing you could sleep happily.
I see bi-polar, I feel pity for the person
describing his feelings in the painting.

You can read a lot into Van Gogh’s painting.

I like the sun the way it moves.
Oh my goodness!
Let me think about that now.

Not to count everything that you can use.

It looks like a storm.
Blue’s my favorite color, as we can see.

Starry Nights

Thrilled to lead a workshop next Tuesday with with Francesca Rosenberg as part of the Museum of Modern Arts' "Meet Me at MoMA" project. We will use the artwork to inspire people living with dementia to perform and create poems. A dream come true for me is being able to use "Starry Nights," by Vincent Van Gogh.

Meet Me at MoMA

Article on the APP in My Hometown Paper

Photo Credit: Frankie Frost

Richard Halstead wrote a wonderful article on our Alzheimer's Poetry Day- Novato.
The event was sponsored by the North Bay Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association
and partially funded by the Bill Graham Foundation. Big thanks to Shelley Dombroski
of the Alzheimer's Association and Holly Rylance of LifeLong Medical Care for setting up the event.

Read the article Marin Independent Journal.

More on LifeLong Medical Care Here.

Alzheimer's Poetry Day- Albuquerque

Alzheimer’s Poetry Day Comes to Albuquerque

Alzheimer’s Poetry Day will take place 11am to 1pm, on Saturday, November 5th at the National Hispanic Cultural Center, 1701 4th Street SW, Albuquerque.
Free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be served.

Alzheimer’s Poetry Day is a celebration of the Alzheimer’s Poetry Project (APP). Readings will be in English and Spanish. Guest artist Jimmy Santiago Baca will give a reading of his original work. Gary Glazner, founder and Executive Director of the APP and APP Spanish Director and poet Michelle Otero will read classic, well-loved poems and poems written by those with Alzheimer’s.

They will also speak about the APP and the findings from the pilot program conducted in New Mexico, as well as provide tips on using poetry to connect with people living with dementia. A highlight of the event will be the creation of an original poem by the poets and the audience. This event is designed for everyone from activity directors to caregivers to persons living with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementia and their families.

Jimmy Santiago Baca collections include Selected Poems / Poemas Selectos (New Directions, 2009), C-Train and Thirteen Mexicans: Dream Boy's Story (Grove Press, 2002), Healing Earthquakes (2001), Set This Book on Fire (1999), In the Way of the Sun (1997), Black Mesa Poems (1995), Poems Taken from My Yard (1986), and What's Happening (1982). A self-styled "poet of the people," Baca conducts writing workshops with children and adults at countless elementary, junior high and high schools, colleges, universities, reservations, barrio community centers, white ghettos, housing projects, correctional facilities and prisons from coast to coast.
More info at jimmysantiagobaca.com

Michelle Otero A writer, performer, and teacher, Michelle Otero is the author of Malinche's Daughter, an essay collection based on her work with women survivors of sexual assault in Oaxaca, Mexico. Her work has appeared in Artful Dodge, Brevity, and Puerto del Sol, and her awards include an Associated Writing Programs Intro Journal Award and a Fulbright Fellowship. She is member of the Macondo Writers' Workshop.

Together with visual artist Chrissie Orr, she teaches multigenerational art and storytelling workshops through El Otro Lado: The Stories that Connect Us. She holds a B.A. in History from Harvard University and an MFA in Creative Writing from Vermont College. A tenth-generation New Mexican, she is Creative Director of Valle Encantado, an organization promoting sustainable development initiatives in the Atrisco historic core in Albuquerque, and co-founder of Connecting Community Voices, an Albuquerque-based organization building positive social change through creative community expression.

More info at michelleotero.wordpress.com

This event is partially funded by the National Endowment for the Arts and sponsored by the Alzheimer's Association, New Mexico Chapter and New Mexico Literary Arts.

TimeSlips ON-LINE!

Many people are familiar with Anne Basting's amazing TimeSlips story telling project. She and her team have been hard at work for the last year or so building a user friendly web version of the project. Here is what Anne writes:

"The new storytelling software is playful and easy to use. I think you'll like it.

Here's how:

1) USE THE SITE!
-visit www.timeslips.org
-sign up (it's free!)
-Click Start a Story and play with the story software (you can invite friends to tell stories with you!)
-Send stories to your FB page, or email them to friends.

2) Send a personal email to friends you think might love this site.
3) Put a short blurb about the new site on your blog or into your newsletter.
4) Tell groups you're leading about the site as a resource.

I can't thank you enough. I feel like we have an amazing tool to give people - to let the joy of imagination brighten their lives."

Please give TimeSlips new tool a try!