Living Too Long–an Alphabetical Ranting
A poem by Elaine Fisher
Twenty-six ways to see your future.
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 Elaine Fisher
Since
2013, Elaine Fisher has been a member of The Writing Journey and had
two short stories, “Corpse Du Jour” and “Metamorphosis,” published in
the 2015 Journey anthology, Voices from the Dark. Besides short stories, she also enjoys writing flash fiction and poetry.
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.