Poem

Watching you go

You gave me little hints

But for years I didn't know

Those were the early foretaste

Of watching you go

We couldn't find the car keys

You were dressing extra slow

Sitting for hours by the window

Insidiously starting to go

A giant of a thinker

Active, innovative maestro

This exacerbated the pain

Of watching you go

Sought-after trailblazer

Somewhat of a dynamo

Spearheading brand new schools

Before you started to go

Your outstanding work was such

National honours they did bestow

Individual lives you did touch

Decades later, saw you go

At first you used your brilliance

To maintain the status quo

Covering up the reality

That you'd started to go

What's my name I asked?

"Your name you do not know?"

Was your witty reply

As you tried to lie low

Simple habits like eating

You seemed to forgo

Saying you'd done it already

Once you started to go

Where was the jack of all trades?

The mentor, the local hero?

Snatched slowly but steadily

From us who watched you go

"I will lift my eyes to the hills"

Bible verses, songs of long ago

Remained faithful companions

When you started to go

You were still pleasant and polite

A warm smile set your face aglow

Though talking less you did

The more from us you did go

Gradually as the years passed

You became like a shadow

Of the former great leader

Now overcome by that strong foe

Seeing you pass through that fire

Burnt our hearts with grief and woe

We felt cheated of your wealth of wisdom

As we helplessly watched you go

But before you left us completely

"Mission accomplished" was your last memo

Those words comfort us often

When we remember watching you go

The enemy lost the final battle.

His plan God did veto

You're vibrantly restored in Heaven

Watching us down below

- Sharon Earle-Edwards

In memory of a loved one lost to Alzheimer's. World Alzheimer's Day was observed on September 21