Shaker Full of Bingo Numbers


 


Dementia, I hate the word.
It rattles in our family tree
like a shaker full of bingo numbers.

We sit around wondering
which name life will draw
to turn reality into nonsense.

The twisted miscreant
is a well-known villain
skewing our perspective

with its bottleneck
of nightmare visions
that play as unwanted re-runs.

Swimming in a turgid river
of what if’s, we seek escape
through avoidance.

Drunk on the effervescence
of bottled hysteria we gather
together to ignore ticking bombs.

With the line of demarcation drawn
there are moments of artificial Zen
where ethereal hope surrounds.

Damn the chaffing burlap of fear
that keeps us trying to forget there might
be tomorrows full of todays we can’t remember.



©Susie Clevenger 2012
 Laurie Kolp at Real Toads had us looking back on words she chose for inspiration over the last year. We could use one or more of the words to include in our piece. A Word With Laurie: Review



Comments

Laurie Kolp said…
Oh, Susie... one of your best for sure. I especially like:

It rattles in our family tree like a shaker full of bingo numbers.

AND

the chaffing burlap of fear
Grace said…
Great weaving of all the word Susie ~

Dementia is a chilling prospect and I like the way you approach it, no artificial zen, and despite avoidance, it comes and settles quietly ~
Kerry O'Connor said…
I love the simile that is reflected in your title, and thought these lines showed a very provocative use of the list words:

Drunk on the effervescence
of bottled hysteria we gather
together to ignore ticking bombs...
Maude Lynn said…
Oh, I love this! That first stanza is a killer.
Hannah said…
Ooo...your closing is chilling in its stark truth...I also like the bingo numbers metaphor. Very well written, Susie!!
Anonymous said…
Love this one! Very well-written; Alzheimer's lurks in my family history so I could definitely relate to the lingering dread. You use all the words wonderfully :)
Sherry Blue Sky said…
You aced this one! Yes, we cling to the Now, in fear of what might one day start slipping away. Love the "burlap of fear".
Kay L. Davies said…
What I fear most— "tomorrows full of todays we can’t remember" —and you've expressed it so perfectly. I could picture myself with my brothers, maybe even my sister if she's talking to us at the time, remembering how our parents died and wondering whose memory will disappear first.
So well done, Susie. Scares the wits out of me, but very well done!
K
Unknown said…
stark, well-crafted, honest as all hell. Color me hugely impressed.
Unknown said…
Oh, my! Did you ever NAIL dementia! My husband's mother died of the crippling disease...I way crippling because it cripples and destroys the mind. I have a sister-in-law in the first stages presently. It is horrendously sad because of the emotional impact!

BTW Your poetry is wonderful and that is putting it mildly!
Ben Ditty said…
That last line really hit home. Amazing, Susie.