Behind His Eyes

Both touched by Dementia in recent years, a friend and I collaborated to highlight and increase awareness of this life draining disease.

I asked him his name,
he gave me a shrug.
Perhaps someone's father or husband,
he couldn't recall. 

Memories are gone, 
just shadows of a life he once knew.
Clouded eyes with no recognition,
the weight of moments unspoken. 

Caught in a trap;
a past he can’t remember, 
a past he can’t convey. 

Eyes sunken,
a knowing forgotten.
What was his story? 
What was the journey
behind his eyes. 

He shuffles down the hall. 
Why, to where?
Lost, waiting for someone 
but the waiting never ends.

Dementia