In the custody of cherished thoughts
I believed he would be protected
        Hung on the wall were paintings
        That had been with him
        For as long as I can remember
        The furniture were those
        Well worn from years of use
        Yet these did not guard him
Against the time’s ravage of his mind

It is the memories that are blurring
Leaving him raw to the past
        Photos of himself become distorted
        By what he is not able to remember
        Unsettled feelings are resurrected
        By the impulse of a momentary thought
        He tends to meander
        Losing logic on its path
At even supper, he does not recall why he sat

At times he fights the changes with anger
Reproaching those who help him
        It is hurtful without his gratitude
        Tiresome to clarify what he cannot recall
        Disheartening to compare him
        To the man he once was
        Then was an expansive world in which
        He guided me during troubled times
But now follows tentatively, as would a scolded child

His past is vanishing
And every day is lived
With diminishing returns
But I will maintain
Him with dignity
By holding to those memories
Fading from his mind