This Aphasia Awareness Month, we're proud to share a heartfelt poem written by contemporary British poet,
Lee Dorman. Lee writes from lived experience, shaped by profound and often painful moments that have defined his journey. Through it all, Lee found a voice in poetry. His writing is not just expression, but a form of release, understanding, and connection. He shares his work with the hope of reaching others who may be walking through similar darkness, offering them a sense of being seen and not alone.
A dad never forgets his daughter
Poem by Lee Dorman
A father’s love for his daughter never fades,
it only grows—quietly, stubbornly—
stronger with age.
Time, however, is less kind.
It loosens the threads of memory,
unravels the simplest things—
Where is the milk?
What was today?
How do I get home?
The world becomes a maze
of half-lit rooms and missing names,
of moments that slip
like water through his hands.
His memory is weak now—
fragile as paper,
edges worn, sentences fading.
The words are still there somewhere,
but they hide from him,
caught between thought and breath,
refusing to be spoken.
And yet—
His emotions remain unbroken.
Strong. Certain.
Like a compass that never forgets north.
Because in the quiet confusion,
in the pauses and the searching,
in the spaces where everything else is lost—
there she is
His daughter.
He may forget the road,
the day, the reason he stood up at all—
but he never forgets her love.
Not the way she laughs,
not the warmth in her voice,
not the feeling—
the unmistakable, unshakable feeling
that she is his.
A dad never forgets his daughter
Even when the world disappears in pieces,
even when names and places fall away—
love stays.
when memory cannot.
A dad never forgets his daughter
Explore the work of contemporary British poet, Lee Dorman: leedormanpoetry.com
