Last Request
©2015 Susan Noyes Anderson
If ever in my final, fading years
the essence of me drifts too far away…
if I am lost as reason disappears,
hold me in memory until the day
when body stills at last and spirit flies
to make a home in brighter, bluer skies.
Once I have gone, reflect on glory days…
those days when tongue was quick and eyes were clear.
Forget the wandering mind, the vacant gaze.
Recall the love and laughter; draw me near
in every vibrant color that was mine.
Let go the vestiges of my decline.
Reclaim me in your heart; preserve for me
the self I yearn to leave as legacy.
Tags: aging, alzheimers, death, dementia, family, memories, senility
Susan Noyes Anderson
Susan Noyes Anderson is the author of At the End of Your Rope, There’s Hope, Deseret Book, ©1997; Awaken Your Spiritual Power: The Fairy Godmother Isn’t Coming!, Karisma Press, ©1999; and His Children (poetry only, photos are by Anita Schiller), Vantage Point Press, ©2003.