All At Sea

by Paul Tristram / August 13th, 2017

They found her in Victoria Gardens
at 7:30 in the morning.
Dressed in only a flimsy, loose nightie
and someone else’s slippers.
Clutching a little bunch of wildflowers
tightly to her chest…
whilst walking around and around
the same park bench.
It was where they used to sit together
and eat sandwiches of an afternoon
back when she was being courted
by her husband, or so her daughter says.
She’d walked out of the front doors
of the Care Home
about an hour and a half before,
when the Staff had buzzed the Milkman in.
Dementia’s a terrible thing,
doesn’t even remember who she is
half of the time, refers to herself as ‘Joyce’
and that was her younger sister’s name.
The only thing which stays clear
in her addled mind is that spot in the park,
so the police knew exactly where to find her.
“Harold” she cried, as they led her away,
“I can’t find my Harold anywhere?” bless her.

Paul Tristram is a widely published Welsh writer who deals in the Lowlife, Outsider, and Outlaw genres.  He wrote his first poem as a teenager following his release from the (Infamous) Borstal ‘HMP Portland’, and he has been creating Literary Terrorism ever since.  His novel ‘Crazy Like Emotion’ is available to purchase right here . Also his collection of shorter fiction Kicking Back Drunk ‘Round The Candletree Graves' is available to purchase at https://bookgoodies.com/a/B0DFMTSR4F Both books are published by Close To The Bone Publishing. Read other articles by Paul, or visit Paul's website.

This article was posted on Sunday, August 13th, 2017 at 8:04am and is filed under Poetry.