He Smiled

It was a cold crisp day in Autumn
He asked if I would drive
I said sure, where we going
He pointed to the countryside
And as we passed the farmlands
Where we'd always hunted birds
He looked up at the sky
And without saying a word, he smiled

Switched back on the hillside
And headed out 99
Towards the old duck pond
Where we'd spent so much time
He swore he saw the waterfowl
But they were only in his mind
He looked up at the sky
and without saying a word, he smiled

Dementia does some strange things to the human mind
He was living in the past as if it was real time
He'd stare up at the clouds ever changing over head
Maybe it was his ocean or the place he was being led

When we arrived back home
I could tell that she was tired
From watching him like a little boy
Instead of the man she loved
He shuffled napkins like paperwork
And shaved in the dead of night
Everybody knew that something wasn't right
The way he looked up at the sky
With a tear in his eye and smiled

Written by Michael Frazier © December 12, 2010