Alzheimer's disease

I

A family mourns their mother dear,

Lament her shattered mind with tear,

Each dwindling day—a struggled strife,

That pits and pocks her AD life.

   Alzheimer's hard and hateful stain,

   As AD taints her thought, her brain,

   Its tangled web in brain, of mind,

   Harsh tragedy of humankind.

Dementing minds leave tales untold,

As tau and amyloid misfold,

Vile enemies that twist within;

A war for her which we must win.

   To purge from her this enemy,

   And make AD a memory;

   A threat upon her mental wealth,

   Appalling risk to aging health.

To cure her brain, and help our race,

We need to touch sweet Nature's face.

II

Emotion born of human mind:

Ecstatic joy, eureka find,

Idyllic hope, a caring day,

And love—from lust to agapé.

   Creation born of human brain:

   Jane Eyre, Macbeth, and Clemens' Twain,

   Sweet poignancy in prose and play,

   And art—from Mozart to Monet.

These glories of our life … our race,

Grand triumph of our brain's time-space;

Diseases of our brain and mind,

True enemy of humankind.

   We must embrace, research, and strive,

   We must caress the tragic lives

   Of those AD afflicts, invades,

   Protein and mind misfold, pervades.

To cure AD … the mind, the brain,

With scientific hand humane.