Diagnosis
I make lists for her,
fill in the calendar,
get her to keep a diary.
She’s knitting again,
a scarf to start with,
reading now too –
hides her romances
amongst the bedsheets
in the linen basket.
She stumbles, says, Doris
when she means Jean,
and I nod, as if to say
I’m with you. Keep going.
John Lynch has been a playleader, carpenter, teacher, headteacher, gardener and is currently a bicycle instructor for Suffolk County Council. His first pamphlet, A Gap in the Railings, was published in 2016 by The Garlic Press.