Madeleine

I

I had cake the other day
I was reminded of reading Proust
Too dry. I couldn’t finish.

II

I intend to have cake tomorrow.
I have planned an elevenses 
Like my grandmother once would have had
With cake instead of meringue 
But I worry it will remind me of the cake I had the other day
And spoil everything.
I am caught between reflection and expectation
And instead do nothing.

III 

I’m reminded I visited Madelaine the other day
Twenty years ago.
She is a spry ninety years and two months
-In my mind, on that day, twenty years ago.
She has cake and coffee
And dementia.
As a young woman she might have met Proust
Enticed him “to tea with Madelaine” and madelaines 
And he with the taste of tea and cake and her
Would leave; and write; and immortalise the memory;
But now? Would she remember if she had met Proust?
And would she really have met Proust:
That notorious sickly, shut-in, invert?

IIII

As a child I would lie on my belly on the carpet 
Listening to hissing Monty Python records 
A sketch titled The All England Summarise Proust Competition
Has contestants attempt to precise the seven volumes of À la recherche du temps perdu
In 15 seconds or less
Upstairs my mother is dying
And I wonder if either is real?
When she proved it -and died- family and friends appeared 
And I recall an impromptu party with cake.  
So could I put forward as an entry:

IIIII

I had cake the other day
I was reminded of reading Proust
Too dry. I couldn’t finish.