Laurel Brodsley

Alzheimer Poems Laurel Brodsley

Laurel Brodsley Ph. D., M. P. H., R. N., was a lecturer in Englishliterature at a major university. One day at a familiar intersection, shebriefly lost her sense of direction. As she immediately suspected, thiswas the first symptom of early-onset Alzheimer's Disease, which shetried to delay by every strategy she could find. After having to give up work, she started to write poetry about herexperience. Over the following years these poems, often bleak butoften celebrating life, show her slow decline towards dementia. Shehas now lost the ability to touch-type, which makes more poetryproblematic. Alzheimer Poems is a selection of her poetry, followed by an earlieressay on her experience fighting Alzheimer's Disease, and herprospects. The poems use symbolism, observations, and her personalexperiences to bring to life the unique perspective of what ishappening in her brain. She has a distinct interest in the esthetics ofart, music, and nature that is evident throughout the collection. Thepoems act as a window into the plight of a person struggling with thisdegenerative and fatal disease.