the things we talk about when we joke about alzheimers

Here is another way to tell you about a disaster
that has been conducive by age, numerals and numbers
you are losing brain cells

you mistrust
your hands to find the correct light-switch
or recall with the same intensity how to tie your shoes

there's space for spots
in your eyes
at times they fail to direct you right and left

but they direct you
to the time you were seven years old
when there were soldiers and a black bag

why black? your daughter will never know
this is a secret locked in your brain alone
unreachable

you will recall with clarity
a day that is received with
tears of joy

we joke now
about the times of washing machines
brimming with two-day washed clothes

we laugh at poor
eyes, that don't see in the dark
but we forget too, that this was once life.