Like A Lamb To The Slaughter

• Paul Diab, Grade 9
• Poetry
• 2021

Dementia is a psychopath,
Eating up his memories, his judgment, his willingness to live,
Like a lamb to the slaughter -
My grandfather is slowly sliding into Death’s mouth.

To him, I am just another person,
Who visits him every week, cares for him and helps him take his meds,
To him, I am just another person, but to me, he is so much more...

Everytime I see him, it gets worse,
Everytime I see him, I pray that he will get better,
Everytime I see him, the countdown of his life is diving to zero,

He is being tortured, his soul is being stolen from him,
So that, he is only an embodiment of flesh.
As a young man, Dementia is on the other side of my world,
But I fear that when I am older it will be waiting at my doorstep,

My beloved grandfather is slowly dying;
Dementia is slowly leading him like a lamb to the slaughter.