As of late I’ve been called upon to look after a friend of over twenty five years who is apparently suffering from either early onset dementia or Alzheimer's Disease. Maybe “called upon” is a bad turn of phrase, maybe I hope somebody would do the same for me should I ever find myself in similar circumstances. Anyway, here’s a sort of poem I wrote that described the events that transpired a few weeks ago that at times makes me laugh and at others, makes me cry.

The Cats Wanted Some Mayonnaise

In today’s dementia diary
I thought it would be okay
to let my friend go to the local stop and rob
by himself
to pick up some cat food

A sense of independence
is a good thing,
right?

He came back with
an industrial size jar of mayonnaise
needless to say,
the cats were not pleased.

I figured hey,
at least it was Hellman's
and not some generic brand.

How does the song go?
Oh yeah,
Always look on the bright side of life.