Do We Dare to Ponder

Do we dare to ponder the great mind stealer, the taker of person, of essence, and being.

Do we dare to ponder the loss of initiative, of confidence, of independence, of knowing and feeling from the cherished.

For all to quickly they are overcome by the change in electrical charge, the deterioration of resplendent organic structure.

Do we dare to ponder the anguish of those left unfathomable by the undetectable physical change, the closest no longer close, the understood no longer understandable, the familiar and comforting now alien and terrifying.

Courage!  Does not even this most perfect, most complete demon give way to light and hope.

Does not the lover, the friend, the family reach a deeper, more selfless plane of caring and feeling, of appreciation of the simple, of the wisdom of the small.

For the teacher continues to teach, the lover continues to love, the dreamer continues to dream.

Until I dared to ponder, I did not think this so.

by Michael Santasieri, Age 54, Franklin, MA