Look this is my first effort at anything like this so please try and be kind. If you cant be kind then be malicious and destructive. I prefer extremes of emotion.

Me Dad's gone mad!

Stranded on the landing stairs confused and still with fear
Boxing shorts on back to front his pen behind his ear
"Is it time for my breakfast or my time to go to bed?"
Moments of sharp lucidity are trapped inside his head

Progressively worse they say a diagnosis with no hope
It's hard to watch a vibrant mind become a bar of soap
But some things that he does endear him to me in his way
Like putting loosing bets on horses watched last Wednesday

Me Dad's gone mad he puts the teabags in the microwave
and shouts out conversations to an unknown Uncle Dave
I'm torn between my watchfulness and trying to save his pride
and counting up his tablets and staying near his side

It's easier to deal with Dad trapped in his cushioned state
He never calls me "arsehole" but smashes lots of plates
He offers me examples of amazing serendipity
and takes advantage of illness to exorcise self-pity

I want to take him to the park and push him on the swings
Our lives have just been role-reversed I'm seeing different things
Like how he helped me learn to walk and peddle on a bike
I'm sure that Freud knew how to swap his sentiment for psyche

The carer mentioned respite care an option for a breather
I see it as a cop out how on earth would they know either
I want to see this through to the end and do it as a team
Would he have left me on my own when I was on his knee

I'd pray to God, recite Koran and meditate to Buddha
To elongate the time with me not hastened to my mother
But sure as sunlight breaks horizons every passing day
My Father will be leaving me loves passing paves the way

Very good poem. I can see you cope well with you dad,their is some humour there.

Hi There

Thanks but it aint my Pop I am writing about. I was tring to imagine what it might be like to live with after listening to other peoples experiences.