co-write with Janet about man with Alzheimers (no title)

[NewMan™]

"no title yet"



I can't close my eyes, sleep I must fight
I don't want to lose my memories in the middle of the night
I saw it happen to my best friend and roommate
I'm not going to just lay here and wait..

So I nap during the day, stay up after dark
I hide my fears from Doctor Clark
He thinks I'm going senile, I'm at the right age
He's more worried about the tumor in my rib-cage


"Bill, you need surgery" he said with a serious tone
That night I called my daughter on the phone
"Hi Dad, I'm busy", she said, "Can it wait?
I'm meeting a friend and I'm already late!"

"Sure honey," I said, "That sounds like a plan
So when are you going to stop by and see your old man?"
"Oh Dad", she said, "Please don't take offense
But nursing homes always make me feel so tense..

You'll be okay, tell your roommate I said hello
My battery is almost dead Dad, I gotta go.."
I held my phone while my daughter hung up the line
I'm not going to worry about the tumor, I feel just fine!

I handed the phone back to the nurse, "thank you", I said
I walked slowly back to my room, James was still in bed
For over a year I have been good friends with James
But for the last month or so, he's had such trouble with names

When his family visits him (what a lucky guy)
They have noticed there is a blank look in his eye
They do all the talking, he just looks straight ahead
When only a couple months ago they couldn't keep him in bed

"James' I said, "how was your rest?"
He looked past me like a man possessed
He doesn't remember me, that is quite clear
"I'm Bill," I said, "We have been roommates all year"

James rolled his eyes at me and turned to face the wall
It seems every day there are new things he can't recall
While I lay one bed over, staring at the window blind
Trying to keep my daughter's absence off my mind..

Two hours becomes four, darkness surrounds
Everyone is asleep accept the nurse on her rounds
Out of the corner of my eye, next to James’ bed
I see a dark figure standing, touching James’ head...

I said, “Hey, who are you? How’d you get in here?”
But the dark figure ignored me, as if he didn’t hear.
I said it again, even louder this time….
Then, he looked up and said, “James is fine.”

“I’m just checking on him….it’s your turn next.
What’s wrong, Bill? You look perplexed?”
I looked at him, and said, “I’m ringing the bell!”
Suddenly, the figure was gone, before I could even yell.

I said to myself, “It must have been a dream…
Did it really happen? I don’t know, it seemed
So real! I wonder if anyone else saw what I saw.”
I rang for my nurse….she came running down the hall.

The nurse came in my room, I cried out, “Who was he?
There was another man in here? Did anyone else see?”
“Now, Bill, you know it’s late, no visitors are here.
You were only dreaming. Go back to sleep, dear.”

I tried to calm myself down so they wouldn’t put me out.
I’d stay awake all night, I thought, so there would be no doubt
James and I are safe from any sort of harm.
Although I felt calmer, I also felt a sense of alarm.

I lay completely still as I pretended to be asleep.
I opened up one eye, so that I could get a peek.
And, there I saw, once more, a figure standing by James’ head.
What I saw scared me, I turned over in my bed.

The figure held an open box as he stood by James’ head
I know that you may not believe, but this is what he said:
“Memory, come here….come out….come into this box
No more lost thoughts, they will be safe under my lock.”

And, then I saw the strangest thing. I saw words in the air
They flew from James, into the box, they stayed right there
I saw what James was thinking, I saw how sad he’d been.
The figure closed the box, looked at me and grinned.

I started to say something as the figure looked my way,
But, the figure put a finger to his mouth as if to say,
“Hush, don’t say a word, everything is still all right.”
Then, just as fast as he appeared, he vanished into the night.

I fell into a deep, deep sleep until the morning light
I awoke and wondered if I had dreamed it all last night
Was my imagination, what did I really see
Did James memory fill up the box. Next, will it be me?

The next day Jame's family came by to visit
His wife was crying, I asked her: "what is it?"
"It's James," she said, "since he came back from his exam
He has this blank look and he doesn't remember who I am.."

She knelt by his bed, holding close her rosary and cross
I knew the hospital wasn't the one responsible for his memory loss
But I couldn't prove it, at least not yet, not on my own
Jame's family left soon after, we were once more alone.

They were serving dinner, the pasta I had was thick and creamy
I was missing my daughter.. I so wish she would come and see me
Maybe she might call tonight? or perhaps I could call her again
I mean calling her twice in a week.. that's not a sin..

I don't want her to be upset, but I do miss her so
So I called her that moment, her number I will always know
She picked it up after three rings, said "Hi Dad".. and then
She told me she had to go.. but I should call her again

Our entire conversation lasted less than a minute
I want to spend more time with her but I don't know how to win it
I'm just an old man in a hospital whose mind constantly reminisces
In a way James is lucky.. he can't remember what it is that he misses..

I makes me wonder again about that stranger who I saw
Making James memory come out of his mind and withdrawal
I wonder if he would be open to making a deal
I'll give him my memories.. he won't even have to steal

He can put them in his box and bury them deep
Then when my daughter doesn't have time for me, I won't weep
And she can live her own life while the rest of mine I will spend
Lost in my mind, but not sad.. laying here like my friend.

That night I wrote my daughter a letter, I hid it in my shoes
I turned off the television early, before the evening news
Am I doing the right thing? I am just a little concerned
When next to Jame's head.. the stranger has returned..