At a Distance

Photo by Suzy Hazelwood on Pexels.com

With a vacuous look in her eyes

She weakly smiled

And suddenly looked down

Her eyes were growing

Move and more empty

With every passing day

An occasional recognition

Was celebrated at heart

But no longer held much hope

Her decent into the unaware

Has been going on now

Close to seven years

and the family was in tears

after almost every visit

Such a strong and intelligent woman

Brought down to an empty vessel

Void of facts and memories

…

Maybe someday there will be

A cure for this loss so many face

Until then there will be

Heartbreak and loneliness

In many at older years

For now just hold tightly

To memories that you have

For some day they may be fleeting

And you’ll lose those

You hold most dear

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Written for Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (FOWC) – vacuous