Nonsense Rhyme
(or/ Dementia Creeps In)

by Ann Christine Tabaka


Blue sequins
On the floor
Counting pennies
Like before
Someone knocking
At the door
Seeking answers
They implore

Day one
Is now day two
I cannot
Find my shoe
What am
I to do
The sequins
Are still blue

Time passes
Lives change
Memories
Rearrange
Everything
Seems strange
Counting pennies
For change

Silly verse
Crazy rhyme
Makes sense
In time
Pennies now
Are a dime
The sequins
Are still mine


* * * * *

Author's Note: This poem is dedicated to everyone who is dealing with dementia, their own or a loved one’s.

Ann Christine Tabaka was nominated for the 2017 & 2023 Pushcart Prize in Poetry; nominated for the 2023 Dwarf Stars award of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Poetry Association; winner of Spillwords Press 2020 Publication of the Year; featured in the Who’s Who of Emerging Writers 2020 and 2021. Selected as a Judge for the Soundwaves Poetry Contest of Northern Ireland 2023. She is the author of 17 poetry books, and 1 short story book. Her most recent credits are: The Phoenix; Eclipse Lit, Carolina Muse, Sand Hills Literary Magazine, Ephemeral Literary Review, The Elevation Review, North Dakota Quarterly.