On learning that neurocognitive disorder is not synonymous with dementia

Bleeding into the brain

Forgive me for learning by
putting words in my mouth
and spitting them out

Bleeding into the space around the brain

worn stone

steps, years long

gone, stained,

glass shimmering,

light-brushed high

stone, quiet

crypts

easing open, our chests

heavy rows of flickering

candles between pews

what room

is there

to play

what space

Blood clot inside the skull causing pressure on brain

the moment I confess

to a life spent trying, bare

hints of a smile, fragile curls of cirrus

stretched thin as the crown

of a thunderstorm, fanning out from the eye

not quite hurricane, not yet

Concussion

Positive: sometimes !10! !10! !10! !10! !10! !10! ::parhelion, an !10! !10! !10! !10! !10! :that bright spot

indicates a presence !10! !10! !10! !10! !10! !10! atmospheric optical !10! !10! !10! to one or both sides

where there should be !10! !10! !10! !10! !10! phenomenon: !10! !10! !10! !10! !10! !10!of the sun

none::

Italicized headers from the title: https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/001401.htm
Definition of parhelion: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_dog

Morgan Hamill is a disabled poet and a graduate student in English Literature at Penn State, where she has been awarded a McCourtney Family Distinguished Graduate Fellowship. In 2019, she was a poetry semi-finalist in Nimrod's Francine Ringold Awards for Emerging Writers. Her poems have appeared or are forthcoming in Cimarron Review, Copper Nickel, and The Southern Review.