The Foundation is fortunate to be able to share another poem dedicated to Charles Bonnet syndrome (CBS). On this occasion, the author is Delany Lemke whose work was originally published in the journal, Red Cedar Review, in 2018.
We gratefully acknowledge both Red Cedar Review and the author herself for giving permission for this work to be shared with the wider CBS community.
CHARLES BONNET SYNDROME by Delany Lemke
My face is permanently fifteen
in my grandmother’s memory.
All her possessions
uselessly small.
Her glasses
do almost nothing.
Though sometimes,
from her window
she sees dancing women
wearing floral headscarves
out on the water.
She can count their eyelashes,
the petals on the fabric.
She sees their feet
striking the jetties
or their ankles rising
from the sandbar,
eyes like teacups
tasting the lake.
She wonders why these spirits
would come to haunt
her dead eyes.
She tells no one.
Delany Lemke is a Michigan poet currently pursuing a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) at the University of Alabama. Her poems can be found in issues of Homology Lit, Juxtaprose, and 30 N. You can follow her mostly mundane life and catch any new publications at @delovelylany on Twitter.
