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Poetry

The poetry below is taken from the regular newsletters. The idea to consolidate them into a single page was in order to assist those people new to the group in navigating their way through the material in a more logical and condensed fashion.

_Title	_Author	_Newsletter
_{Have you seen my sister?}	_{Veronica Lowney}	_V6#4
_{Joy and Sorrow}	_{Kahil Gibran}	_V3#2
_Poem	_{Sheila Cassidy}	_V3#2

Have You Seen My Sister?

Have you seen my sister ?
Her name is Dawn
A rugged, boisterous, "Full of Life" girl
I can't find her anywhere, she's gone.

Her mind is a prison
Where she's locked up tight.
Is she frightened and alone, unable to fight
Her way out of this plight ?

What is this terrible affliction
That's robbed her of so much
That's taken away her ability
To respond to a loving touch.

That condemns her to look with unseeing eyes
At those she knows so well
That will never allow one moment
Of escape from this Hell.

She'll sit in this prison
Till the end of her days
Unable to comprehend
This judgement that's passed upon her
That will not allow her to mend.

What is the reason, how did it happen
Is something she'll never know
And those of us who love her
Stand helplessly and watch it grow.

Perhaps she is already with God
And feels no actual pain.
But this judgement stands, there is no reprieve
I will never find my sister again.

Veronica Lowney

_{Mrs Joan Frost sent us these two poems:}

_{Then a woman said, Speak to us of JOY and SORROW.

And he answered:

Your joy is your sorrow unmasked.

And the selfsame well from which your laughter rises was oftentimes
filled with tears.

And how else can it be?

The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can
contain.

Is not the cup that holds your wine the very cup that was burned in
the potter's oven?

And is not the lute that soothes your spirit the very wood that was
hollowed with knives?

When you are joyous, look deep into your heart and you shall find it
is only that which has given you sorrow that is giving you joy.

When you are sorrowful, look again in your heart, and you shall see
that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight.

Some of you say, "Joy is greater than sorrow," and others say, "Nay,
sorrow is the greater."

But I say unto you, they are inseparable.

Together they come, and when one sits alone with you at your board,
remember that the other is asleep upon your bed.

Verily you are suspended like scales between your sorrow and your joy.

Only when you are empty are you at standstill and balanced.

When the treasure-keeper lifts you to weigh his gold and silver, needs
must your joy or your sorrow rise or fall.}

_POEM

_{And so we must begin to live again,

We of the damaged bodies and assaulted minds,

Starting from scratch with the rubble of our lives

And picking up the dust of dreams once dreamt.

And we stand here naked in our vulnerability,

Proud of starting over, fighting back,

But full of weak humility

At the awesomeness of the task.

We, without a future,

Safe, defined, delivered,

Now salute you God,

Knowing that nothing is safe,

Secure, inviolable here

Except You,

And even that eludes our minds at times.

And we hate you

And we love you,

And our anger is as strong as our pain,

Our grief is as deep as oceans

And our need as great as mountains.

So, as we take our first few steps forward,

Into the abyss of the future,

We would pray for Courage to go to places for the first time

And just be there,

Courage to become what we have not been before

And accept it.

And Bravery to look deep

Within our souls to find new ways.

We did not want it easy God,

But we did not contemplate

That it would be quite this hard, this long, this lonely.

So, if we are to be turned inside out,

And upside down,

With even our pockets shaken

Just to check what's rattling and left behind,

We pray that you will keep your faith with us

And we with you,

Holding our hands as we weep,

Giving us strength to continue,

And showing us beacons along the way to becoming new.

We are not fighting you God,

Even if it feels like it

But we need your help and company as we struggle on,

Fighting back and starting over.}

Share Your Thoughts

If you have already written some poetry related to your experiences in caring for someone suffering from Pick's Disease or know of others that may be appropriate, please send your final copy to either Carol or Penelope.

Contents

Have You Seen My Sister?

Mrs Joan Frost sent us these two poems:

POEM

_{Mrs Joan Frost sent us these two poems:}

_POEM