A Stranger’s Demise

I still see the world with eyes wide open,
And I still know how to dance.
I know when words are left unspoken.
And when it’s time to make a stance. 
They tell me of a war inside, 
One between protein and pride.
Though I don’t fully understand, 
They say we’re in this together, hand in hand. 

But things begin to get harder and harder, 
Simple tasks, like knowing the question and guessing the answer.
The sounds of the world begin to crash on deaf ears,
I lose myself between comforts, fears and tears. 
I’m often wrong, but no one seems to mind,
Their kindness too soft, their patience too kind.

Yet I still see the world with open eyes,
And I still know how to dance.
But now my life feels like a garden of lies,
Each room and every face a puzzle,
Until one I recognise, and I break down and cry.
Like drowning in a shallow sea, unable to die.
Only to step out again, somehow completely dry.

I hold photos like a stranger would,
Admiring it like a loved one should. 
My mind is swallowed by mystery,
Slowly erasing mine own history.
For victors bear the burden of ink,
Perhaps that's why I so struggle to think.

But I still see the world and it’s blue skies,
And I think I still know how to dance. 
But now they whisper when I leave the room, 
Are they all against me now and planning my doom?
Could they be so ungrateful, stupid and callous?
Why should they treat me with so much malice?

Perhaps they think me a fool, 
Someone they could so unjustly ridicule.
But I forgive their wrongs and woes,
I don’t recall much, and they don’t seem like foes. 
Instead they guide me gently through each day,
And smile at me when I lose my way.

I still try to see the world and it’s blue eyes,
And I would still like to dance. 
My strength endures into my old age
And I escape his scythe, like a bird in a cage.
But with every swing, he clips my head,
Until one day soon, my last words are said.

Lonely and afraid, this is my final verse.
Before I join the rest of me in death's slow hearse. 
I don’t think I can dance anymore,
For I must confess- I’ve lost this war.
And I no longer see the world with open eyes,
In the mirror, I see only a stranger's demise.
Left with a mix of memory and lucid shame,
Like blank paper already drawn on, 
But blank all the same.