From the Greenwich fieldsite for ENACT-Dem.
One of the things we are thinking about through the ENACT project is how to better articulate life with dementia, be that for people with a diagnosis or those who support them. The creative arts can play an important part in helping us express and understand those aspects of life that we rarely think about, let alone articulate to others. To coincide with the UK’s National Poetry Day on the 3rd October we are showcasing here two poems by Tony Busby who is passionate about improving life for people impacted by dementia.
Tony is a former carer and member of the Royal Borough of Greenwich Dementia Reference Group meetings that supports dementia initiatives across Greenwich. Tony provides valuable insight into the life and experience of caring for a family member living with dementia. The group meet regularly and has worked on projects such as Dementia Inclusive Greenwich.
Tony often writes poetry and was inspired to write two poems about his experiences as a carer for his mother which we are delighted to be able to share here. His poems mirror the creative approach to understanding life with dementia that we are adopting on the project.
Tony has his own Instagram page if you would like to read more of his work:
The first poem ‘The Home’ was inspired by a visit to his mother in the care home where she was living. It recalls Tony’s childhood memories of how he spent his days. It then tells of how his mother may have been feeling about her days spent in the care home and the passing of time. Poignantly it tells of how his mother spent many hours in front of the television often with no choice about what she wanted to watch.
Tony has this to say about his poem:
“Some thirteen years ago my mother spent her last days in the nursing wing of a care home. She was one of the fortunate ones with regular visits from her children and one day when I had visited her in her room and said I had to wheel her back to the television where other inmates were corralled she said : “Do I have to go out there?” that made me very sad and we managed to change things so she no longer had to spend time in front of a blaring tv, alas many still did.”
The Home
Drifting, drifting, drifting…
Skipping down the road
Satchel floating on my back
Lightness of load
First in the classroom
Lessons soon begun
Hopscotch in the playground
Back home at a run
After school
Bolt down tea
Homework done
Brother and me
Climbing trees
Hide and seek
Count to fifty
Mustn’t peek
Cowboys on bombsite
Swings in the park
Out every night
Til it’s dark
Washed and cocoa
Story in bed
Another day over
Prayers said
“Wake up Mary
It’s your favourite show.”
They never ask me
So how do they know?
Here to the end
Death by tv
Drifting, drifting, drifting…
My own reality
Tony refers to the care home residents here as inmates in an explicit recognition of what he perceived to be a lack of freedom they sometimes experienced. Poetry is not a neutral act and will often spark debate and reaction. Not everyone will agree with Tony’s view here, but we have left the poem unedited, and present it as Tony intended.
Tony’s second poem Thank You was written after attending one of the Dementia Reference Group meetings. There was an open event for many local businesses that have become involved with making life better for those living with dementia and their carers. Members of the public and stakeholders attended and it was here that Tony first read this poem.
Tony says that his poem reflects on how healthcare workers and carers are “an integral part of an otherwise, at times, uncaring world.”
Thank You
Here’s to the
Health professionals
We think that
You’re all great
Your constant kindness
Means so much
To those that
Face their fate
Not quite the folks
They used to be
Bright lights
Fading gradually
And carers in need
Of help too
Little respite
From the blue
The work they do
No easy task
Who cares for them?
Who can they ask?
But you and you and you…
Your whole much greater
Than your parts
You who open
Up your hearts
We say thank you…