“Right up to the last minute,”
Joelle said to me
“the soul has work to do”
Weeks later her words
lead me to ask
What if it were
more opening than disease
this Alzheimer’s
& these our tribe’s explorers?
What might they discover
learn & teach
these modern Magellans
freed of memory?
What is learning
if released from memories?
What is life?
Traveling unencumbered
by memory
how might they move?
Where go?
Maybe it’s we who
hold them back
with talk of yesterday
and this morning
and 5 minutes ago
& we their Sherpas
carrying their food
bedding & tent
while they attend
their ascents
:- Doug.
