Blank Stares

Golsa Shafa, 2T3 PB

Artist’s Statement: This poem was inspired by a patient suffering from dementia who, for a brief moment, recalled his long-term memories of youth and love after hearing a nostalgic track. It is about the power of music and the grim reality of dementia.

Blank stares are interrupted with

intrusion of confusion at best

questioning time and my sanity 

leaving me stressed and perplexed

The hollow feeling in my chest 

little did I know would be replaced 

and the clueless cloud over my head 

would for a moment, get erased 

My head fills with bits and pieces 

of your puzzle as the music plays 

after all these years with lapses,

in my memory, I see your trace

I listen to the music of our days 

and I’m magically out of this maze 

with brief memories of you, I conquer 

my memory loss and blank stares