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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Bernard O' Donoghue

Alzheimer Fruit

In that underworld you ambled off to

On your own, you must have drunk or eaten

Something prohibited so that your memory

Of this life faded. But where could that place

Have been? And what was the fruit? If we knew,

We'd go there with you, or for you, and put it back:

Whatever it was you ate or drank or brought away.

I dreamt I came upon you in the early hours

In your pyjamas, scoring a sheet of paper

Over and over with a highlighter pen.

'This pen's gone dry,' you said. 'I'm trying my best

To make it orange up this paragraph.'

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