Caroline Beasley-Baker
dementia
is a ruthless god.
my mother says — i wuv you —
but can she mean it?
i’m uncertain the sentiment
is meant for me.
the infantilism of the ‘wuv’ a clue —
a mis-
direction — lacuna?
so many painful questions in a foreign place.
is the dementing a mechanical self-betrayal?
and helpless — is the persona a witness
to its own demise?
and for me — do my questions elucidate
or stand in-stead/in-the-way of empathy?
of love?
but then mother says:
the sky is so blue — the most perfect small cloud
rests on that woman’s house.
and i give thanks for this small benignity.
Caroline Beasley-Baker is a poet and visual artist living in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, NY. Pelekinesis (Claremont, CA) published 2 books of her poetry, FOR LACK OF DIAMOND YEARS and [ ARIADNE/DARK DARK SHINE ]. Her work has previously appeared online and in print in Annandale Dream Gazette, Fovea, MER, Poetry Magazine and more. Her “chained” poetry with writer Holly Anderson, songwriter Lisa Burns was included in the anthology, “The Chained Hay(na)ku Project,”Meritage Press.