For Marie

This is just something I wrote for a friend named Marie. She is suffering from senile dementia - which seems so much like Alzheimer's disease. I was thinking about how once I leave the state, I will probably never see Marie alive again. She is an Inupiat Eskimo & she taught me almost everything I know about Native Alaskans (which is a lot like being Black American).

Marie

She calls me

and leaves messages

on the phone

She calls to cry

saying she is all alone

I don't care

and I don't know

how she feels afraid

to let go

Her mind that once

thought up stories

and dreamed my life

it's now all gone

where the illness is rife

Some days she laughs

and seems okay

But then the smile fades

and the joy goes away

Where is she

I wonder

when she's not here

What is her mind

when it's not clear

How will she

ever be free

How do I let go

when she's already left me