IN THE HOSPICE LOUNGE AT THE OLD FOLKS HOME

In the hospice lounge

at the old folks home,

they sit cuddled in a corner

smiling and giggling

and touching and kissing,

and he calls her Dorothy,

his dead wife's name,

and she calls him Robert,

her dead husband's name,

but it really doesn't matter

in the hospice lounge

at the old folks home.

THE LOSS OF RECIPROCITY IN DEMENTIA

Sipping Ensure and Boost

in a one piece dress

and a flowered bib,

she stares at a photo

of a military man

in dress fatigues

from the port of Pearl Harbor,

and she doesn't remember

after 58 years

and a stillborn named Jimmy

that the military man

in dress fatigues

is her doting husband

clutching her hand

and holding his breath.