Madlynn Haber
Madlynn Haber is the author of Seasons of Sorrow and Joy (Metaphysical Fox Press, 2025). She lives in a cohousing community in Northampton, Massachusetts where she writes poetry and essays. Her work has been published in Poetica Magazine, Buddhist Poetry Review, Eunoia Review, Months To Years, Medical Literary Messenger, and many other journals. Online at www.madlynnwrites.com
A Mind Grown Old
Where do memories go
when they leave a mind
grown old and worn?
It is apparent as I tell her some news
that it is not landing anywhere,
not embedding itself for future reference.
A tearful gesture of grief fills her face,
she covers her eyes with her hands,
but I can tell that she will not remember
the sad news of an aunt’s passing.
She will have to be told again and then again.
Each time grief will waft through
and depart along with the details.
She will remember the rings she wore
every day when she looks at her barren fingers.
Her gnarled hands remind her of her dead mother.
She will remember the past with embellishments
seeing herself at funerals she failed to attend.
She will use gimmicks and slogans to find
her way in the hallways. She will not recall
last week’s luncheon or the names of her cousins,
though she will pretend that she does.
There will be no new memories while old ones repeat.
She will rehash arguments she had with her spouse
before he died, and recall a grandmother rescuing her
from being teased in the school yard. Old memories
transform when there is no one left to validate them.
She will ask who will come to her funeral now
that so many have died, and she will wonder,
yet again if the person in the coffin
can hear the words being spoken about her.
