I have a friend who used to be!
He was brilliant talking history,
Politics, or geography.

He could argue formidably,
The travails of our democracy;
Yet he loved America fiercely.

Today my friend just recognizes me.
But he can’t converse so easily;
His memory’s been stolen, you see.

Alzheimers shrunk his brain away.
"There is no cure; might be delayed"—
So his doctors say;
"New meds slow the cortex’s decay."

He cannot recall a single day;
Confuses his own children’s names,
Yet to me he appears much the same.

Terror must invade his mind,
Coping with a world he cannot find.

Our times together soon might end;
Yet, forever he’ll remain my friend.

But
Now I’m terrified how my fortune’s cast,
Not knowing how long my mind will last.