A sick woman
Lies alone
In a bed
Tethered to machines
Forcing air into
Damaged lungs
A nurse laments
Sorrowful that no one
Comes to sit beside her
For good reason
She has scraped lives raw
Picked the bones clean
Of our family connection
No heritage left, no tree
All roots decayed long ago
It’s been thirty years
Since we last met
Remembering her
Dangerous madness
Driving in reverse
Down main-street
Contrasted against her
Warm, squishy hugs
An ordinary adult now
My duty to ask
If she is on
Death’s door
Her daughter
Will pay her respects
To say goodbye
And ask why
As for me
I want to see
Inside her head
Pore over scans
Charts, x-rays
So I don’t
Have to feel
Alone, in a sauna
Profound grief unlocked
From depths unknown
So deep, this well
Cascading tears
Refuse to cease
So many times
I am undone
In the bath
Or wrapped
In a towel
When I am naked
Reality has no filter
It is what it truly is
Perhaps wardrobe
Is armour
This rusty, mismatched set
Gleams in mind’s eye
I become Don Quixote
Hazardous sword swinging
Fantastical panache
Rocinante's transforms
Now a handsome steed
If this escape is
Easy to picture
Maybe my imagination
Could also conjure
A loving grandmother
With all her marbles
About the Creator
Aspen Marie
In love with life and all of its foibles.
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Comments (5)
Oh no. The first four lines, broke my heart. 👩🏾The fact that she has to force air into damaged lungs, made me even more emotionally invested. - Makes me wonder who this person is... Or sadly... Was... - no one came? 💔 That is such a cruel thing to experience 👩🏾 Oooooh I see. I am sorry... - Thirty years. So it's been quite a while now. 👩🏾 Oh the tone and atmosphere in this. The flow was so mesmerizing but the atmosphere somber and dismal. Perfect for the words flowing through. But it keeps me glued because it's a familiar feeling. - I love how you used the word naked to demonstrate just how reality has no filter. 👩🏾'Perhaps wardrobe is armour' I love where you took us with this line 👌🏾 - perhaps your mind could... I wish she had all her marbles. I am so sorry, Aspen. But this was outstanding. Sending warm, long, light hugs and healing 🤗❤️🖤
That was stunningly raw and intimate! It’s brutal honesty meeting tenderness, and the ending... imagining a grandmother with all her marbles—quietly shatters the reader. Every line feels like both an incision and a healing stitch. 💔✨
Rommi and Dharrrr said it right. This was beautifully sad and full of wise understanding in it. I am sorry you go through this and wish you well always. Your grandmother looks beautiful too. Humans are a messy bunch, aren't we? Hugs, lass! The consolation is that this was, as usual, bloody brilliant.
Well-wrought, Aspen. Such is the paradox of human nature, and you describe it well. Perhaps in shedding the earthly garment such a one can also shed such vexing complexities.
This was so poignant. Sending you lots of love and hugs ❤️