“Alzheimer’s” by Kelly Cherry

Alzheimer’s

By Kelly Cherry

He stands at the door, a crazy old man
Back from the hospital, his mind rattling
like the suitcase, swinging from his hand,
That contains shaving cream, a piggy bank,
A book he sometimes pretends to read,
His clothes. On the brick wall beside him
Roses and columbine slug it out for space, claw the mortar.
The sun is shining, as it does late in the afternoon
in England, after rain.
Sun hardens the house, reifies it,
Strikes the iron grillwork like a smithy
and sparks fly off, burning in the bushes–
the rosebushes–
While the white wood trim defines solidity in space.
This is his house. He remembers it as his,
Remembers the walkway he built between the front room
and the garage, the rhododendron he planted in back,
the car he used to drive. He remembers himself,
A younger man, in a tweed hat, a man who loved
Music. There is no time for that now. No time for music,
The peculiar screeching of strings, the luxurious
Fiddling with emotion.
Other things have become more urgent.
Other matters are now of greater import, have more
Consequence, must be attended to. The first
Thing he must do, now that he is home, is decide who
This woman is, this old, white-haired woman
Standing here in the doorway,
Welcoming him in.

 

Glossary

Columbine: an aquilegia with long-spurred flowers

Reify: make something abstract more concrete or real

Rhododendron: a shrub or small tree of the heath family, with large clusters of bell-shaped flowers and typically with large evergreen leaves, widely grown as an ornamental.

Tweed: a rough-surfaced woolen cloth, typically of mixed flecked colors.

 

 

Annotation

 

“Alzheimer’s” written by Kelly Cherry is a poem about an Alzheimer’s disease patient as we can know from the title. A middle school teacher, mkcapen1 wrote that the poem draws a picture of Alzheimer’s disease patient’s dynamic changes of long term memory to short term memory (mkcapen1). This poem describes the main characters’ outside and inside with simple language. A college student, Emily said that author is the speaker of the poem and the man with Alzheimer’s is her father (“emily”).

In the first line, ‘a crazy old man’ (1) is standing at the doorstep of a house. Once again, in the next line, the speaker says that crazy old man’s mind is rattling like his suitcase swinging in his hand. From the title to the second line, Cherry shows the main characters’ mind in not normal because he has something more than just ‘crazy’. Then, the speaker of the poem describes his belongings and they show awkwardness.  The mismatch of old man and piggy bank shows the oddness of the main character. Moreover, in the line 5, we can notice that he is no longer able to read a book which shows that he is losing his intellectual abilities.

After describe his appearance, the speaker gives details of the house that the old man stands at and the old man is suddenly dragged to his memories which he remembers clearly. He remembers his house as roses and columbines are on the brick walls, and sun enlightens the house.  However, there is no clue that reader can guess that appearance of the house is in present or in the past. The fragmental descriptions of the house let reader be confused what tense it is (Meyer, Wortman, Kuhl, McDonough, Repp, Francis, Drowne, and Miller) (p.130). Unlike readers and the old man’s mind, the “white wood trim defines solidity in space” (14). As the wood trim defines solidity, the shape of the house or familiarity of the house triggers his old memory. He remembers that he built and fixed the house and planted trees in back.  Memories leads other memories as well and he completely back to his past. He remembers his car that he used to drive and himself as young man who loved music.

While he strays in his memory, he noticed that something more important is happening. No time, no time for the past, he repeats (20).  However, he still cannot get lead of his memory (21, 22). Finally, he faces the “urgent” thing that he must to do for the first at the doorstep of his house which is to decide who the “white-haired woman” greeting him is (27).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sung Jin Park

Eng 2003/1248

Prof. Jody R. Rosen

Essay # 2

 

A Moment to Remember

 

“Alzheimer’s” is written by Kelly Cherry and it is about a man with Alzheimer’s disease. It is a short poem with simple language but the detailed character’s personal and emotional descriptions and the background make this poem meaningful and insightful. From the moment I saw the title “Alzheimer’s”, this poem captured my mind for long because it reminds one of my favorite movie “A moment to Remember”. The movie is about a wife with Alzheimer’s disease and her husband who takes care of her and tries to make her memory back. At the end of the movie, the husband rent a place where they met first and eventually her memory back for short.  Normally, when we think of Alzheimer, it associates with sadness and sorrow. However, I saw humors and happiness in the poem. “Alzheimer’s” has three scenes. The first scene takes place at the doorstep of a house where “crazy old man” stands and then, it moves to the man’s mind. At the end, the scene backs to the doorstep again.

From the first line to line 6, Kelly Cherry describes about a man with one sentence. “He stands at the door, a crazy old man/ back from the hospital, his mind rattling/ like suitcase, swinging from his hand, / that contains shaving cream, a piggy bank, / a book he sometimes pretends to read, / his clothes.” She breaks this sentence into six lines so that the reader can focus to the man one by one. At the beginning, the speaker of the poem see the man as a “crazy old man” then the speaker find that the old man’s mind is not stable as his suitcase is swinging from his hand.  When we imagine an old man, it is hard to draw a picture of an elder swings his suitcase back and forth. The picture I drew about the old man was very merry. Moreover, a funny and odd connection between an old man to a piggy bank makes me to sympathize with the man little more. Furthermore, when I realized that the man cannot read a book but pretend to, it gives a great sense of humor to me.

After describes the old man, the speaker gives details of the house where the man stands and his memory of his past. Between line six to twenty, the man enjoys the cozy and mellow memory in his head. We don’t know how long the man stayed in the hospital, yet it is very obvious how pleasing it is to be home again. There is brick wall with roses and columbines beside him and sun shines and enlightens the house. Sun light warms the brick wall and roses blossom under the sunshine. The glares break down to rosebushes and sparkles flow like river around the house. This snug and warm scene takes the man to his old past. “Sun hardens the house, reifies it,” shows that the man’s memory of the house becomes concrete. He recalls his memory of the walkway that he built, trees that he planted, and the car that he used to drive. Once he reminds his past, more memory surges to him. He becomes young as he remembers, with his favorite hat and music that he loved. His memory floats down on his beautiful past that he spent in the house. Between line six to twenty, the man enjoys the cozy and mellow memory in his head undisturbed.

Suddenly, something pull him back to the present. Something happened. The music he loved turns to something “peculiar” and strings are screeching. The door is opened, and he sees an old woman behind the doorstep. But he doesn’t remember her. He knows that he has no time to decide who she is.  He is confused. The line twenty one and twenty two show how he confused by the happening at the doorstep. He wants to stay in his comfortable memory but he senses there is more important thing then stays in his memory of his past. He sees a “white-haired woman” but can’t remember who she is.  However, he realize he is home now by the woman who opens the door and welcoming him. The poem ends here and the speaker doesn’t tell us what is happening after. There is a question remains: Does the old man figures out whom is she? For me, that doesn’t matter. Even though the speak stop telling the story, I can see a bright grin on the old woman’s face and his face too. He is home now.

“Alzheimer’s” is a short poem but the content is neither short nor shallow. Kelly Cherry successfully describes the man’s delicate emotional changes and leads the readers into the man’s memories. At the last sentence, the poem hits the emotional climax with happiness –at least for me- and delivers a lot of meaning to readers.  I read “Alzheimer’s” again and again, and could feel something fill me from inside. The warmth of sun, the scent of roses, the melody of a song and unchanging love of the old couple made me smile from the bottom of my heart. “Alzheimer’s” could be a sad poem to others but for me, it will be remembered as a romantic and nostalgic poem.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Citation

“Alzheimer.” emily. blogspot.com, 12 03 2008. Web. 11 May. 2012. <http://emilyg082.blogspot.com/2008/03/alzheimers-kelly-cherry.html>.

 

Meyer, M., S. Wortman, E. Kuhl, J. McDonough, J. Repp, C. Francis, K. M. Drowne, and Q. Miller.Resources for teachers: Poetry an introduction. 5th. boston & new york: Bedford St. Martin, 2007.

 

mkcapen1, . “What is the interpretation of this poem “Alzheimer’s” by Kelly Cherry?.” enote.com, 07 Dec 2009. Web. 11 May. 2012. <http://www.enotes.com/arts/q-and-a/what-interpretation-this-poem-alzheimers-by-kelly-121815>.