Counting sheep

Here is an excerpt from a poem entitled “ You've got to laugh” taken from my book “Parkinson’s, shaken, not stirred”, which inspired Denis Shifrin, a professional artist and cartoonist to draw a caricature of me counting sheep. Thank you so much Denis for understanding and capturing the humour which gets me through tough times. This caricature appeared in an article about me speaking at The First International Congress of Narrative Medicine and Rare Diseases in Rome earlier this year and was featured in the September edition of the ESRA Magazine. 
(Reprinted with kind courtesy of ESRA MAGAZINE www.esra-magazine.com)

My mind, begins to wander, for concentration, hard to keep,

I write everything, in my diary, and constantly, take a peep.

To make sure, I’ve not forgotten, something, that I had to do,

Was there somewhere, I should have been? I wish I had a clue.

Whilst in conversation, I digress, quite lost I get,

No longer sure, what I wanted to say, seem to forget.

I can no longer read a novel; I quickly lose the plot,

My memory, like a sieve, grey matter seems shot.

I clamber into bed at night, I start counting sheep,

My mind begins to wander, for concentration, hard to keep.

Written by Elaine Benton © 2011