Posts Tagged ‘poetry and the aging’

I sat down with James and we put a drum between our knees. James has a knack for coming up with rhyming words. We go back and forth tapping a couplets and rhyming with one another.

James: What are we going to do today?
Myself: I want to hear what you have to say.
James: I want to talk about the war.
Myself: Tell me a story and then one more.
In addition to making up rhyming couplets, we beat the rhymes we both know and remember and take turns saying lines. Sometimes we don’t say the words. We beat out the rhythms.

Examples: Pease Porridge Hot, One Two, Buckle my Shoe

I laugh with him when we realize how long ago it was when we first learned these little songs.”How do you remember those?” I ask. “I don’t know?” “Well, you have a good memory.”

I am wondering if he remembers it because he has repeated it over and over to his children and grandchildren.

Five dementia residents were circled around me. I read some poetry and stopped on the rhyming lines to see if they could fill in the words. A couple of them blurted the words out easily. The others enjoyed the rhythm and sounds. “Let’s write our own rhyming poem,” I said. Let’s come up with a topic. Out of the blue, Eva leaned over to me and said “Did you know that I didn’t used to wear shoes. I couldn’t because my feet would swell.” I grabbed at the line and wrote it down. “ Let’s try to come up with a rhyming line,” I said. We ended up going around the circle talking about what each person liked or didn’t like to wear. It was personal and stimulating. They loved it.

A Poem about Clothes

Eva couldn’t at one time wear shoes.
Her feet would swell… what could she do?
She cannot wear a woolen sweater.
She wears cotton instead… that’s even better.
Ann likes to wear shirts that are red.
“I won’t wear black” she said, shaking her head.
Mary likes to wear a white sweater
And wearing blue is even better.
Rosie doesn’t like to wear scratchy clothes.
It causes itching on skin and nose.
Thelma likes wearing a plain old dress.
A bright and pretty dress… oh yes!