"Alzheimer's" by Kelly Cherry

Kelly Cherry was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, but moved to Ithaca, New York at age 5, and Chesterfield County, Virginia, at age 9. Cherry graduated from the University of Mary Washington in 1961, did graduate work at the University of Virginia in Philosophy. She is an award winning author, poet, and the former Poet Laureate of Virginia.

Alzheimer's

He stands at the door, a crazy old man

Back from the hospital, his mind rattling

like the suitcase, swinging from his hand,

That contains shaving cream, a piggy bank,

A book he sometimes pretends to read,

His clothes. On the brick wall beside him

Roses and columbine slug it out for space, claw the mortar.

The sun is shining, as it does late in the afternoon

in England, after rain.

Sun hardens the house, reifies it,

Strikes the iron grillwork like a smithy

and sparks fly off, burning in the bushes—

the rosebushes—

While the white wood trim defines solidity in space.

This is his house. He remembers it as his,

Remembers the walkway he built between the front room

and the garage, the rhododendron he planted in back,

the car he used to drive. He remembers himself,

A younger man, in a tweed hat, a man who loved

Music. There is no time for that now. No time for music,

The peculiar screeching of strings, the luxurious

Fiddling with emotion.

Other things have become more urgent.

Other matters are now of greater import, have more

Consequence, must be attended to. The first

Thing he must do, now that he is home, is decide who

This woman is, this old, white-haired woman

Standing here in the doorway,

Welcoming him in.

This poem depicts the confusion and unawareness that someone struggling with Alzheimer’s has to deal with. At first, the tone seems calm and free as the character notices simple details like “the sun is shining” and “sparks fly off.” However, digging deeper into the description of the man and the setting is a sense of sadness. First referred to as the “crazy old man” who just returned home from the hospital, Cherry conveys this confusion the man feels onto the reader. From lines 7-15 the tone is pretty lighthearted and inflicts peace on both the reader and the old man. This changes, however, as the man starts to reminisce of when he was a younger, and “remembers” his love for music, a love “there is no time for now” because “other things have become more urgent”; there is a sense of pity on the man and the tone shifts from light to heavy. In the last lines of the poem the reader realizes that although the man remembers some things he can no longer remember the “white-haired woman” who is inferred to be his wife. This moment captures the difficulties someone dealing with Alzheimer’s undergoes. The thing I found most depressing about the poem is how the man could remember things such as “the walkway he built” and the “car he used to drive”, yet he fails to remember his own wife, the woman “standing here in the doorway, welcoming him in.” Because the man is unaware of his condition, I had pity on both him and the wife. This very moment gives meaning to the poem and how it is addressed. The tone depicts the doubt we feel and unawareness in the world. Although it first seems lighthearted and carefree, when you peel off the skin there is a great sense of remorse and sadness that is revealed.