What’s the Difference

Feature Image Above: was created by Copilot and me. The trials and tribulations of the aging process — where questions deepen, and the hills keep rising.

After flooding my kitchen last night (again), I found myself wondering where simple mistakes end, and something more unsettling begins. This poem grew out of that quiet, uneasy space — the place where aging, memory, and meaning start to blur at the edges.



What’s the Difference


What’s the gap
Between insanity and humanity
Is there a difference
Between oblivion and infinity

What’s the gap
Between failure and fruition
Is there a difference
Between carelessness and forgetfulness

What’s the gap
Between here and there
Is there a difference
Between thoughtlessness and memory loss

What’s the gap
Between now and then
Is there a difference
Between Alzheimer’s and Dementia




Some days, the questions echo louder than the answers.





Ivor Steven ©  February 2026

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ivor20

G'day, and welcome to my blog site. My name is Ivor Steven, I live in Geelong, Australia. I'm an ex-industrial chemist, and a retired plumber, and a former Carer of my wife(Carole), for 30 years, who suffered from severe MS. I Write poetry about those personal thoughts, throughout and beyond my life as a Carer. I've been blogging for over 2 years, and writing poems for 19 years. Of course a lot of my poems are about my favourite subject Carole, but since I've been blogging my writings have become quite varied, humourous, mystical, observational, and even a few monster/horror poems.

24 thoughts on “What’s the Difference”

    1. I suppose I’ve been pushing myself a bit lately, tiredness moves in and forgetfulness is amplified my friend … well that’s my excuse for now … time will tell, and today we are resting 😌🥰🌏🐶

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  4. I don’t know what’s the gap 🤔

    The distance from here
    is further than there
    between the optics
    of retina observations.
    Written by me in November 1973 😁

    I was concerned about not remembering stuff and mentioned it to the nurse during an assessment. I asked if there was a test. She said let’s do it now, as it would be good to get a baseline score.
    I scored 30/30 and was told not to worry about dementia…..yet 😂

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  7. 😦 Oh, gosh, on the flooding. 😦 I bet you were exhausted. 😦
    I think there are several things that cause issues…our minds are bombarded by so much stuff (too much stuff) these days…our minds struggle when we are physically or emotionally tired and need rest…our minds deal with all the stress and stressors in life, etc. 😦
    We all need breaks…times to unplug from everything and everyone…time to just sit, be, breathe, rest, listen to music, commune with nature…
    I hope you got some good rest and sleep since you posted this post.
    (((HUGS))) ❤️❤️❤️ and 🙏

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