Poems That Bring Awareness To Alzheimer's Disease And Dementia

Published: November 2019

Poems About Alzheimer's Disease For Alzheimer’s Awareness Month - November

November is Alzheimer’s Awareness Month. It was first established by President Ronald Reagan in 1983. At that time, less than two million people suffered from the disease. It has now grown to over five million patients in the United States alone. Although there is no cure for Alzheimer’s disease or Dementia, there are treatments that help slow down the progression of the disease.  

The Alzheimer’s Association has wonderful resources on their website about signs of Alzheimer’s, tips for living with the disease, help for caregivers, information on research and getting involved with support groups.

Whether you have been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s or have a loved one fighting this disease, we hope these poems will remind you that you are not facing this alone. 

November is also National Family Caregivers Month. There are millions of people who care for their loved ones. These people selflessly make sacrifices to care for those with special needs, chronic illnesses, disabilities, and aging bodies and minds. This month is a time to honor family caregivers and give them the support they need.

Be sure to check out our other Aging Poems.

19 Poems About Alzheimer's Disease For Alzheimer’s Awareness Month - November

  1. Dementia

    • By Debbie Bell
    • Published by Family Friend Poems December 2020 with permission of the Author.

    My beautiful mum passed away on the January 20, 2020. I looked after mum at home for 10 years and then mum was placed in a care facility where she was for 3 years.

    in Sickness Poems

    Help me to remember
    What I forget each day.
    Don't let the dementia
    Take my memories away.

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    My friends Dad has this. She would love this poem.

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  2. Changing Places

    • By Alora M. Knight
    • Published by Family Friend Poems August 2015 with permission of the Author.

    I always felt that of the over 500 poems that I have written, this one was the most insightful as it was written when my older sister started through this pattern. Now, at 92, I am watching myself carefully and thanking God I am still OK. I'm also glad that I lived through the era when music was music and poetry was rhythm and rhyme. I am grateful for my file of special letters from people from all over the world who read my poetry and let me know they were amused, comforted, or inspired.

    in Aging Poems

    I see the sadness in your eyes,
    The times that you are knowing
    What's happening to your wondrous mind,
    The symptoms you are showing.

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    Memories! I was 53, he 54 when the complications of Alzheimer's took him. At his prime as an exporter, his secretary fell for him. I left and visited Canada for 3 months, but on my return,...

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  4. Dearest Mother, I Will Always Love You

    • By Beryl L Edmonds
    • Published by Family Friend Poems August 2020 with permission of the Author.

    This poem was written in memory of my mother who suffered from dementia in the winter of her life.

    Everyone who's lost their mother knows,
    it's a painful grief that never goes.
    The love will always remain the same
    in a forever eternal flame.

    in Dying Poems

    When dementia creeps in through the back door,
    Loving is needed, like never before...

    An expressionless face, an empty heart,

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  5. Last Embers Verse II

    • By BGW
    • Published by Family Friend Poems September 2022 with permission of the Author.

    Watching someone you love very much slowly drift away.

    in Sickness Poems

    Each day you come and see me, I wonder who you are.
    You seem so happy to sit beside me and give away your time.
    As you tell me stories, I sit there in a dreamlike state of mind.
    I don't know if I knew you, so many memories have passed me by.

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  7. For Mum

    • By Hazel J. Lock
    • Published by Family Friend Poems August 2021 with permission of the Author.

    I lost my mother to Alzheimer's disease after 15 years of living and coping with the disease. The road was a long, hard one, with anxiety, heartaches, and sadness. Her death was heartbreaking but a relief in a way for her and for us. She had no idea who we were and lost all her memories. I wrote the poem for her funeral as it depicted exactly how I felt.

    in Mother Death Poems

    Your time has come to leave us, Mum.
    Dad called you back to him.
    The ballroom floor is ready
    For your dancing to begin.

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  8. Living With Dementia

    • By Emma L. Buckley
    • Published by Family Friend Poems October 2021 with permission of the Author.

    I wrote this poem to raise awareness of people suffering from dementia. I work as a caregiver, and until starting this job, I didn't understand much about dementia or how it affected people. I would like to share my newfound knowledge with others and ensure that everyone knows that it isn't just "being forgetful" or "being difficult" and that it is just as distressing for those suffering as it is for those around them.

    in Sickness Poems

    My mind is not what it once was:
    wilting like a rose.
    One thing you must remember:
    this is not the life I chose.

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    Sometimes you just NEED a break. My parents' assisted living center is short on staff, and I'm trying to be there more. Last night I fed them BOTH and then (with my horrible back with tumors...

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  9. Last Embers Verse I

    • By BGW
    • Published by Family Friend Poems January 2022 with permission of the Author.

    This poem is about the pain of watching someone loved so very much just slowly fade away.

    in Sickness Poems

    The clarity of my mind has faded.
    Those vibrant thoughts, slowly washed away.
    Memories once so strong, are now so distant.
    Names of those I held so dear, escape me now.

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    I and (I'm guessing many hundreds of thousands of) others know exactly what you mean first-hand.

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  10. The Greatest Loss

    This poem is about a man watching his wife fade away due to Alzheimer's Disease

    in Sickness Poems

    When the time came again to visit her there,
    He'd feel that dark sense of despair.
    He could already picture her sweet, gentle face,
    Marred by that sad, empty stare.

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    My fiance and the love of my life had passed from cancer one year ago. My heart is forever scared, but I must go on with my life and raise my four-year-old daughter.

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  11. A Forgotten Life

    • By Linda Harrison
    • Published by Family Friend Poems August 2014 with permission of the Author.

    My mum has been suffering from dementia for 4 years and is now in a residential home. She is 84, and up until the age of 78, she was still working and driving. She doesn't remember her husband or myself and my 2 sisters. In fact, there is no recognition in her memory of the life she had before the dementia. It seems such a cruel disease to wipe out a person's life completely that it inspired me to write this poem. I am sure it will relate to a lot of people experiencing this "loss" of a loved one.

    in Sickness Poems

    She resides in a home, sits in a chair,
    Nothing to bother her, make her worry or care.
    Caretakers to help her wash and dress,
    Doing all that they can not to cause her distress.

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    Hello. I can so relate to what you have said. and of course more than what you have said. My Dad got dementia when he was 83. He wouldn't accept that he needed help and I would take weeks...

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  12. Fading

    • By Danb Fernie
    • Published by Family Friend Poems March 6, 2023 with permission of the Author.

    I've worked in care for about 20 years, mainly with people who have dementia. This poem is based on some of the things I've experienced.

    in Aging Poems

    I know that nothing ever lasts,
    and my memories, they're fading fast,
    but I have my photographs,
    and I know we used to laugh.

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  13. She Doesn't Know Me

    • By Alan N. Prentice
    • Published by Family Friend Poems October 14, 2024 with permission of the Author.

    I watched a very dear friend and companion slide slowly into the grip of dementia over several years until the time came when she had to go into residential care for her own safety and wellbeing. I had no contact with her when her family saw her through the assessment stages and returning from my first visit several months later after she entered a home I felt a despair akin to bereavement. This poem conveys how I felt.

    in Sickness Poems

    In the crowded room she sits alone,
    Lost inside her tangled thoughts,
    Her eyes unfocused on the floor,
    She doesn't know me any more.

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  14. I Still Hear My Mama Singing

    When my mother was young and had 5 children, she sang all of us lullabies. Then years later when she developed Alzheimer's, she sang to her dolly, and then eventually forgot the words and would sing La La La La La.

    in Aging Poems

    Mama with her babies in her rocking chair, she sings
    The soothing sound of lullabies,
    Her voice so sweetly rings.
    Singing in her rocking chair,

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  15. On Your Shoulders

    • By Magnus I. Rasmussen
    • Published by Family Friend Poems October 2018 with permission of the Author.

    My father and I have always been close; when I was young, he would take me on drives to record stores and football games, anywhere and everywhere we'd go together. Recently he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's and vascular dementia, and slowly, day by day, he's losing what makes him my father. I wrote this poem as an ode to the memory of the man he once was, before it all. I read it to him from time to time, and he smiles and asks me who wrote it. I always say, "A girl who loves her father dearly."

    in Father Poems

    I remember the times
    You'd flip me onto your shoulder
    Freefalling skyward
    Taller, older

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    This poem so reminds me of the relationship my Daddy and I had. He had a major surgery in 1971 and because of that and the effects of the anesthesia, his decline began. It took a while for us...

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  16. Dementia

    • By Caroline J. Pennington
    • Published by Family Friend Poems June 30, 2024 with permission of the Author.

    My father was such a beautiful man to our family. He was so supportive despite realizing years later his wonderful impact on our lives. I just wanted to write a poem/song that may say how much he is missed and loved. I work In hospice now and love him everyday. Thank you dad forever. CJC

    in Sickness Poems

    Well I'm spinning
    And I'm spinning
    Like a carousel
    In your arms

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  17. Dementia

    • By Marie Matheny
    • Published by Family Friend Poems December 2021 with permission of the Author.

    I am dealing with a sister who has been diagnosed with dementia. The whole experience has been scary and devastating to watch her mind deteriorate while there is so little I can do to but keep her company and help her days by doing things with her. We try to enjoy the days and we try not to dwell on what we know is inevitable. It seems I have grown closer than I was with her before, and maybe that is because I know what is yet to come.

    in Sickness Poems

    There are times when things seem normal again
    We laugh and talk about trivial things
    We enjoy each other's company
    But we can't deny the thought in our minds

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    Thank you so much for both of your comments on two of my poems. I wrote both from my heart and experience as I do all my poems. It is rewarding to know that I was able to convey my feelings...

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  18. Get Me Outta Here

    • By Carol A. Andrews
    • Published by Family Friend Poems September 2021 with permission of the Author.

    My dad has dementia. He had a fall and went to hospital, but it was too hard to bring him home. He was admitted in a dementia care home. He is not settled there, and he has become aggressive and disruptive and just too much for family to cope with anymore. It's so very sad. If he realised what he was doing, he would be mortified. Dementia is such a terrible disease. I hope this poem will give the reader some insight into the world of dementia suffered by the loved ones it affects.

    in Aging Poems

    Locked in this place
    I want to go home
    Surrounded with people
    But I am all alone

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  19. She May Not Remember Tomorrow

    • By Kate E. Cartwright
    • Published by Family Friend Poems February 2006 with permission of the Author.

    A granddaughter writes about her grandmother's experience with Alzheimer's Disease.

    in Aging Poems

    Every morning
    He helps her get up,
    Get ready for a day
    That she may not remember tomorrow.

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  20. Silent Day

    • By David Herman
    • Published by Family Friend Poems September 2008 with permission of the Author.

    My 92-year-old mother has senile dementia. Her memory is gone. She sits with others in a nursing home. She's physically strong but her life has become so narrow as she's unable to drawn on the past, and so the words she utters have no context. She sleeps, eats, and breathes, smiles and accepts because she no longer knows that life is led any other way. Nevertheless, she never complains and is kind and sweet in her demeanor towards others. My mom inspires me to live my life fully each day.

    in Aging Poems

    There is stillness in my mind, molecules no longer attract each other.
    I peer inside, the words no longer come to me.
    A void instead has taken shape
    An emptiness of forlorn dread has filled the space that once was me.

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  21. Long Goodbyes

    • By Lisa Hart
    • Published by Family Friend Poems March 2014 with permission of the Author.

    I wrote this poem for my mother, who passed away on Valentine's Day 2010. Alzheimer's was part of our family for ten years, and I wanted my family to know that even though she had this horrible disease, it couldn't destroy her love for us or our love for her.

    in Aging Poems

    Nancy Reagan once said, "Alzheimer's is just another word for a long goodbye"
    Doctor's told us that Alzheimer's is a horrible disease that strips you of your dignity and pride.
    Nurses told us that some go back to their childhood and some act like they're five.
    And we have all said, "We love her so much," but she has changed; she's just not the same.

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    My dear grandma, Doris, left us in January. She left an awful heartache in our hearts. She let an impression on me and all my family. She was a beautiful woman with a heart of gold. Friendly...

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