Poem: Alzheimer’s

Kelly Cherry is a popular writer and poet of many books besides being a renowned publisher. Most of her books are based on poetry and have a collection of many poems altogether. The poem, ‘Alzheimer’s’ is based on her real life experience with her parents. Research and interviews of her have revealed the fact that one of her parents was a victim of the illness. She bases the contents of the poem from the situation she underwent. Her talent is believed to have been drawn from experiences and inspiration from her musical parents, which is related to the art of poetry. From the title of the poem, the poet clearly gives away the intention or content to the reader. However, she still manages to capture the interest of the reader that will enable them to read to the end. Use of literary styles and metaphor are evident in enhancing the main idea of the point. This paper is aimed at exploring the concepts picked from the poem and the picture that the poet manages to create in the head of the readers. It clearly is restricted to a specific field but on the other hand, generates a number of ideas and interpretations. This is achievable because of the many ideas that have been intertwined to bring out the whole idea of Alzheimer.

Basically, the poem is about an old person who has undergone treatment as a result of Alzheimer’s, the disease described in the poem. The poet (Cherry, 1997) describes how the man who is depicted as quite old happens to be trying to find his way home after what is probably a long time away. We realize that the disease in question occurs mostly during middle ages and old age. The poet also describes the lady meeting the man as white haired, thus, justifies the conclusion of the man being old. The weather and surrounding is described as sufficient and welcoming since it did not seem to be a bother to the old man mentioned. Similarly, the man/patient must be attached to the book he keeps holding though does not necessarily refer to it for anything. As he approaches his destination, he is quite familiar with some of the staff around him. He relates to them as some of those he had put up when he was well. This gives him a memory of the ‘good old days’ where he did what he had a passion for, in this case music. He however comes back to reality upon realizing that as his past and that he needed to focus on matters at hand with the seriousness they deserved. Too much remembrance of the past would not do him any good where there were pending problems and issues that needed sorting out. Finally, we get the imagery of a man who does not know what exactly he is getting himself into since he cannot clearly place the lady receiving him with open arms.

Reaction to the Poem

The poem generally, creates room for broad thinking in the reader’s mind. It is challenging from the wider perspective of life where the future cannot have a guarantee for anyone. As clearly seen, the patient who was an old man had a life at one point where everything went as he had planned. The poet, (Cherry, 1997) indicates his love for music which he remembered. It is clearly brought out that one should live for the day and not put so much emphasis on the future since it is undoubtedly unpredictable. It has also been empirically proved that the beauty of the world and basically life lies with the little things that one does in life. Thus, we feel the excitement of the main character where he can remember the music he once loved and the constructions he had put up as he entered the compound. It is also worth noting the use of metaphor by the poet to elaborate the main point. For instance, Cherry, (1997) states that, “his mind rattling like the suitcase, swinging from his hand.” This clearly indicated that he had thoughts all over and was trying to put his views in place by trying to settle down his mind.

Explication of the Poem

With a detailed analysis, there is more than comes to the eye when one follows up the contents of the poem. First, we realize that the poet shows that there is much hope for the character despite the illness that he had had to deal with. When he nears his home, there is a clear indication of a great weather with the sun clear and roses in the garden around his place (Cherry, 1997). Thus, this is a clear use of metaphor that shows possibility and expectations of a better future. Similarly, the receiving lady in a smile shows that he is heading to a better place with much more loving and caring people.

Secondly, the line that mentions that he has to figure out the identity of the lady welcoming him shows that much was lost during his illness. With the thought on music and having to remember, we realize that the character does not have memory of most things that happened before. It has been medically proven that Alzheimer’s disease makes patients lose a large percentage of their memory depending on how much the damage on the brain has been. In most cases especially in old age, the victims forget a greater percentage of their lives than would be with younger people. Thus, the poet uses the indication on the last line to emphasize on the loss of memory; however, not all since he could figure out the surrounding he had helped build up.

Feelings Drawn from the Poem

Undoubtedly, the poem makes the reader feel pity especially on the main character who in this case happens to be the patient as well. It is clear from the description of his music ability that he used to be energetic. The poet also leads the reader to believe that the patient had placed so energy and time on music which was his passion. In the present state, he can only have memories and focus his energy on other things such as recovering his memory. It is therefore pitiful that he did not do what he wanted till his last day. It would have been much satisfactory and contenting had he left music out of free will and choice to resign. However, having to quit because of lack of option and being forced to focus on things unplanned for makes the whole situation pitiful. However, a reader can also feel the strength of the character because instead of lamenting and having self pity, he focuses on the matters at hand at the time.

Relation to Real Life

From the poem, a reader can relate to real life especially in terms of making use of an opportunity while it lasts. People need to develop a habit of appreciating the basic things in life when they can. Procrastinating should not be an option provided all that is needed at the particular time is available. For instance, in a case where the character had not been fully involved in music which was his passion, he would have lost the opportunity completely due to his condition. We realize that he had put all his energy into developing music as a career while he still could. This should be the same in real life. Everything should be treated with the seriousness it requires to avoid future regrets. Similarly, we realize the unpredictability of life and the need to be safe where one can. The illness was definitely not planned and this took a totally different turn for the victim. Besides taking advantage of opportunities that are around, appreciation of the same is also key. This, as mentioned above, will eliminate chances of having regrets in future that a person can probably do nothing about by the time they realize the necessity.

Relation to Human Condition

This is more or less similar to the relationship it has with the real life of humans. However, it is more focussed on the physical state and conditions of human beings. From what the poet (Cherry, 1997) describes, people cannot be young forever, thus what is done at some point has to end one way or another. Thus, the music career of the character in question had to come to an end. However, it is not always that it ends as an option. As mentioned above, it reaches a point where the condition of a person forces them out of what they do. For instance, the human creature is very sensitive and can be vulnerable to some factors in the environment such as illnesses. The poem shows clearly how this happens and is basically the most important argument in the poem. Thus, it is necessary that people prevent avoidable situation and in cases where it is unavoidable, they make use of the available opportunity. This is because the human condition cannot be planned in advance.

Works Cited:

Cherry, Kelly. Alzheimer’s. 1997. Print.