“I’m not afraid of being dead. I’m just afraid of what you might have to go through to get there.”
― Pamela Bone
“Thin, I think, that fabric between realities. Maybe minds aren’t lost. Maybe they just slip through and find a different place to wander.”
― C.J. Tudor
Oh, the brain, the brain, the brain, the final frontier of mankind
For the greatest challenge there is, is to know our own mind
And why it is that in some, time takes such a toll
That slowly erases, the ones we used to know
For as we all age, the number of cells in our brain dwindle
It happens on the edge, where nature and nurture intermingle
If the pace is too quick, we call it disease
And give it a name, based on the symptoms we perceive
These names that we have, are of the men who first described
The pattern of dysfunction, we now recognize
As time went on, each name was defined
And examined on autopsy, to be further refined
Yet in spite our best efforts, these diseases still surge
Eluding every single one, of our attempts to purge
Each time that we think, we have made up some ground
We end a little more distraught, when no cure is to be found
And still we don’t know, what to make of the mess
We find when we look inside, what the dead have us left
Strands of protein, blobs of lipid, and remnants of organelle
Tangled in lumps and clumps, encased in a protective shell
What are we to make, of our divisive definitions?
All based on dead brains, riddled with attrition
What lies underneath, the hypotheses we sow?
What therapies await, if only we knew where to go?
This puzzle has eluded, all that have tried
Leaving no solace yet, for all that have cried
Perhaps it is because, the pieces of the puzzle we seek
Are not part of one puzzle, we could ever complete
For there are lessons out there, from other fields we can use
Tales of chronic diseases, we managed to subdue
Where some time ago, they planted the seeds
That allowed for the precision, each patient desperately needs
This journey before us, is riddled with hurdles
And the path to translation, moves slower than turtles
Indeed there are times, when all progress seems hopeless
As society was not designed, to tackle such an atrocious diagnosis
But no matter how daunting, we must not get discouraged
Remembering all those before, that had shown so much courage
To begin we must embrace, the reality at times neglected
That no one drug can cure, all those affected
And remember that the labels, that gave us targets to pursue
Are but stories themselves, that often obscure what is true
The question we must now ask, is not how to treat disease
But how best to help, each individual in need
For what matters is not, which hypothesis is right
But how to help those, struggling in this fight
So that one day, with all stakeholders gathered
We will finally rejoice, in tales of lives lived happily ever-after
Love ❤️ it.