ALS
Your adventuresome disposition
craved more than Egypt, Hungary, Panama
An unchosen, formidable new journey:
Hello Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
Fourteen months, twenty-two days of living hell,
cane, wheelchair, six doctors, two hospitals
You lay optimistic, courageous,
very much alive albeit functions ceased
The enemy within seized all motor skills,
vocalization, respiration, deglutition
As I watched you slowly deteriorate,
your shining spirit beamed through weary eyes
You drifted off to eternity
I stood beneath a sea of black umbrellas
as we honored a life well-lived and well-loved,
the mother, grandmother, aunt, cousin, friend, acquaintance,
your presence whispering in the April wind
and the angels crying tears of rapture
© 2020 Mindy Gars Dolandis. All rights reserved.
Our second of three challenges from My Shouting, Shattered, Whispering Voice: A Guide to Writing Poetry & Speaking Your Truth by Patrice Vecchione (Seven Stories Press, 2020) is to write a poem about a time you lost something or somebody. Click HERE for more details.
Post your poem on our April 2020 padlet. All contributions will be included in a wrap-up celebration on Friday, April 24th, and one lucky participant will win a copy of My Shouting, Shattered, Whispering Voice, courtesy of the publisher.
This poem is about someone I would have liked to have known. Thank you for sharing her beautiful spirit, Mindy. <3
ReplyDeleteI am in awe of the courage expressed in this poem. I also would liked to have known the person in this poem.
ReplyDeleteALS is such a tragic disease. These lines left me with a sorrowful hope, "your presence whispering in the April wind
ReplyDeleteand the angels crying tears of rapture " Beautiful!
It is a trip like no other and you've shared the tragic journey with an ending that means release. Thank you for your poignant poem.
ReplyDelete"angels crying tears of rapture" is a perfect ending.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry you were able to write this--but it is beautiful and clear that the person you write about was beautiful. ♡