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Parkinson’s Poetry Slam
Parkinson’s Community Los Angeles sought poems written by Parkies, their caregivers, friends and family to compile into a book of poetry documenting the lives of people who have been impacted by the disease. Thirty-nine poets submitted works and read them aloud online on April 24, thereby commemorating National Poetry Month and World Parkinson’s Day (April 11).
Here’s the lineup. It was an amazing event, with a wide variety of poems (I’m #5 at about the 13 minute 15 second mark).
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Here’s the poem I read:
Appointment w/ My Neurologist
“Have you fallen yet?” she always asks,
In her paisley scarf and white lab coat.
“Feeling dizzy? Spit caught in your throat?
Frustrated that you can’t do daily tasks?”
She makes me tap my fingers, tap my toes,
Then follow with my eyes her roving pen.
Up and down and side to side it goes:
A font of jokes for a comedian.
Well, Parkinson’s is not some morbid joke,
Yet in her office all these tasks evoke
A childish sense of humor. Soaring mirth
That doesn’t flag or drag me down to earth.
What have I learned from my movement disorder?
‘Tween mirth and death, it’s just a hazy border.
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Soon Parkinson’s Community Los Angeles will publish the poems in a book. Stand by for further details!
