Living too Long – an Alphabetical Ranting, by Elaine Fisher
Aging is so inescapable until the final
Breath gives back dignity and sets you free.
Cruelness is independence lost, youth’s disappearance, and a forgotten memory.
Diapers in the end as in the beginning,
Early to bed, forever napping,
Food mashed for easier swallowing,
Gross flatulence, embarrassing,
History collected, photos yellowing.
Illness takes its toll on living… too long.
Justice never comes while waiting for the ultimate
Kind ending that never arrives.
Loneliness is the loss of a mate, friends that died, and adult children with busy lives.
Medicare helps pay the billing,
Not enough exercise leads to falling,
Oxygen tubes connected for breathing,
Privacy invaded, assisted bathing,
Quiet hospitals, machines beeping,
Reality proves the problem is living… too long.
Sex with a heart condition leads to losing
Trust in self, giving in to defeat.
Uselessness is the struggle to walk, the failure to shit, and being unable to eat.
Vacant eyes no longer recognizing,
Warm rooms that are smelly and stifling,
X-rays of bones, brittle and breaking,
Yellowish-brown bile, organs slowly shutting,
Zounds! ‘God’s wounds’ cry out to the silent suffering… for living too long.
Copyright © 2016 by Elaine Fisher
Image is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
Each November, you will find her busy writing her 50K novel during NaNoWriMo- National Novel Writing Month. She is very proud to have completed three first draft novels as a participant in this worldwide competition. Currently, Elaine is in the process of editing her most recent NaNoWriMo novel, Traveling to Spice Town, Book 1 in a YA historical fantasy series.
- Living too Long – an Alphabetical Ranting, by Elaine Fisher - September 17, 2016
- Alexithymia, a story by Elaine Fisher - September 17, 2016
Really nailed it on this one. Appreciated your poem. Just lost my Dad and most of these sad occurrences happened to him. Keep wriiting. K