Alzheimer Poems

Laurel Brodsley was a lecturer in English literature at a major university. One day at a familiar intersection, she briefly lost her sense of direction. As she immediately suspected, this was the first symptom of early-onset Alzheimer's Disease, which she tried to delay by every strategy she could find.

Five years later, after finally having to give up work, she started to write poetry about her experience. Over the following six years these poems, often bleak but often celebrating life, show her slow decline towards dementia. She has now lost the ability to touch-type, which makes more poetry problematic.

Alzheimer Poems is a selection of her poems over six years, followed by an earlier essay on her experience fighting Alzheimer's Disease, and her prospects. The poems use symbolism, observations, and her personal experiences to bring to life the unique perspective of what is happening in her brain. She has a distinct interest in the esthetics of art, music, and nature that is evident throughout the collection. The poems act as a window into the plight of a person struggling with this degenerative and fatal disease.