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Open Poetry #30
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ice
Member Elite
since 2003-05-17
Posts 3404
Pennsylvania

0 posted 2003-12-21 01:52 PM



A human form, in darkness blends
With all other solids, into non living shades.
*
Sitting alone, consumed by shadow
In the pitch of a midnight room:
One small beacon shows
A meager existence, of life
In the persistence, of a coffin nail dot
That competes with the dark with its light;
The end of the Pall Mall glows
With each wheezed breath,
(And as fire consumes the weed)
Its orange-red color,
Wanes, and with each
Inhale...grows brighter.
*
The din of boredom surrounds him,
Entombed , by silence cursed;
These are his things of plenty.
*
His life is all irony, but pills smooth
The cloth that has wrinkled his destiny.
But still alert is he enough to wonder,
Why his family never comes
To stir the hush that fills his every days,
And he dreams of happy, vivid walks
On merry former paths,
With friends that called him "Johnny".
*
But no human light illumes his room
Except for bulbs of strangers faces
Who poke in his room to see if he's dead,
Or call him to breakfast, or lunch, or for meds
Or to place him in better circumstance,
Arranged in a circle of chairs;
In the parlor with other sad immigrants.
*
At night he is left, alone in his cell
Awake with his thoughts, he waits,
For mercy found when life abates
And prays for peaceful release;
Of his body from his living hell.


© Copyright 2003 ford hume - All Rights Reserved
Martie
Moderator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-09-21
Posts 28049
California
1 posted 2003-12-21 01:56 PM


ice...Such a vivid portrait...stirred memories of my grandmother, and of a place I went to yesterday to deliver flowers that made my heart hurt.  You see with clear and compassionate eyes.
ecrivan
Member Elite
since 2001-12-10
Posts 3923
my own state
2 posted 2003-12-21 02:02 PM


Good to see this..yes it's a time to be "frielich" but too many are ignored and shut away in their misery. A hardy season's greeting to you and the best for the coming year!


Seymour Tabin
Member Empyrean
since 1999-07-07
Posts 31720
Tamarac Fla
3 posted 2003-12-21 02:39 PM


ice
This ice gave me a chill.

ice
Member Elite
since 2003-05-17
Posts 3404
Pennsylvania
4 posted 2003-12-21 06:51 PM



Thank you for the nice comment...
When the heart hurts like yours did yesterday you can be assured that it is working at more then its biological function...It is love and compassion that made it ache....two very good attributes in this or any other age..
*
ecrivan
Yes, it is time to be "frielich" if only the world would carry that feeling with them everyday...
Thank you for your reply, and season's greetings...both mean a lot to me...
*
Seymour
Thank you Seymour
I believe the chill you feel is from the draft of compassion that was felt when this poem opened the door to your heart...something  (that by reading your poems) I know is always there...

pictureme
Member
since 2003-11-28
Posts 248
Ohio, USA
5 posted 2003-12-21 11:19 PM


ice....this one sort of grabbed my heart and strangled it! It stirred my emotions
and I wanted to hug "Johnny". Thanks for sharing this one!
keep keeping poetry alive!
pictureme :-)

Sadelite
Member Elite
since 2003-10-11
Posts 2519

6 posted 2003-12-21 11:36 PM


ooohhhhhh myyyyyy.  You painted this well!!!I could feel the inhalation of cigarette and the gasping air and see that spark as the only lightness in the room. I liked how you later used light to introduce those onlookers.   I thought it interesting how you took something with such a positive image (such as light) and used it to show the opposite.   Did I make sense?  This was a great, but sad write.
                 Sadelite

[This message has been edited by Sadelite (12-21-2003 11:40 PM).]

iliana
Member Patricius
since 2003-12-05
Posts 13434
USA
7 posted 2003-12-24 12:11 PM


My grandmother and mother both owned nursing homes before all the state and federal laws governing them made it impossible for regular folks to help others in this way.  The regulations were necessary but it hasn't really changed the way many people are cared for and it is one of the biggest dollar industries in the nation.  So -- let's say I have a vivid memory of people just like this man -- you described the situation to a T.  Unfortunately, many times even the loved ones who are visited a couple of times a month still suffer terrible depression.  It is a process of giving up things, one by one.
ice
Member Elite
since 2003-05-17
Posts 3404
Pennsylvania
8 posted 2003-12-24 08:17 AM


Pictureme
The vision of this man also "grabbed my heart"
I just had to write that image down....Johnny has now gone gentle into that good night (thank you Dylan Thomas) If nothing else, John has helped me keep poetry alive,,,thanks for commenting.....:-)
*
Sadelite
You made perfect sense in what you said in your comment...It brightens my day when I am understood...thank you....:-)
*
iliana
The Ma and Pa "rest" homes in my area have all closed up, and they were the best in personal care.....A group of Mennonites had one, it was like a real home, had garden space for the residents, art programs, speakers etc....but government regulations closed them down....now those "residents" all have been squeezed into big brick houses like penitents waiting in purgatory....sigh, my mind has need for more happy thoughts, but you get the idea.....
Thanks for commenting....:-)

Again, thank you all for your replies....:-)

_______ice
><>


Mistletoe Angel
Deputy Moderator 10 ToursDeputy Moderator 10 ToursDeputy Moderator 5 Tours
Member Empyrean
since 2000-12-17
Posts 32816
Portland, Oregon
9 posted 2004-01-11 03:11 PM




(big hugggsssssss) Ever so often my heart does ache beautifully, and so I know just how you feel! Compassion can be a plague all to itself when you feel it ever so much, sometimes when the tears keep flowing it feels like self-destruction, but my strength only shows how I can make it a paceful weapon and try to touch the hearts of all and comfort them! (wipes tears) I too don't like corporate capitalism at all and much prefer the ma and pa stores as they do their work out of love, while corporate buyouts do their work out of profit I'll be so happy when I move up to Portland, Oregon and spend much time on the free beach where ma and pa stores remain everywhere! God Bless You, sweet friend, we all love you so much! You have such a beautiful heart, sweet Ford, thank you for sharing!



May love and light always shine upon you!

Love,
Noah Eaton

"You'll find something that's enough to keep you
But if the bright lights don't receive you
You should turn yourself around and come back home" MB20

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