Outside-Looking-In
Was it like this my entire life
or only since the years stole
in and swept away beauty and desire?
I stand here, watching shadows
of youthful joy and folly,
longing for a simple touch
or even the smile of a stranger
passing by me in Wal-Mart
as I walk slowly, using my cart as a cane.
They are so busy with their lives.
They have things to do and families
to raise and who love them. You are gone
now, leaving me to this darkness,
Gazing at life unfurling before me.
Sitting on my porch, watching
through the another’s window,
nursing memories and fears.
Waiting for death.
For Poetics at dVerse, Lillian would have us look outside or inside a window. The poem I’ve written isn’t about me, but it is something I have encountered so very often working as a nurse with, for the most part, elderly patients. Though I don’t feel old, I know age is sneaking up on me, so I begin to look at things more often from the perspective of the elderly. Please, don’t forget them!
What a poignant and thoughtful piece.
Beautifully done. 🙂
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So touching…loved the lines here ……may all find meaningful bliss!
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I relate to this as my daughter is a nurse and looks at the world through similar vantage points..her window to the world is often of those recovering from neuro surgery or strokes…and their views are from a hospital bed…such insight and compassion flow in your poetry, Victoria..
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A beautiful compassionate poem Victoria xxx
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It’s interesting that there is no actual outside to this view; it’s an internal door looking in on a room, which makes it feel claustrophobic. And that’s just the image! The poem is reflective, pensive and, for me, sad, and that’s just the opening lines. But my breath caught when I read:
‘I stand here, watching shadows
of youthful joy and folly,
longing for a simple touch’.
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I am a little chilled by your last line…what can be said, as we are all waiting for death….
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Ah, Victoria, you hit a very powerful spot in me. I’m all goose pimples now. Straight to the heart. A great write.
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I’m glad this isn’t you, Victoria, but you write as if you know. Old age is a terrible place for many people.
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I was an RN in geriatrics and hospice most of my 50 year career. I have traveled there with so many, Jane.
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I can imagine. You must be a very compassionate person.
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The loneliness hits hard. Life as it were at a standstill. Beautiful.
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It’s important to give voice to this experience that you witness in your work…none of us know what our final years will be like… sadly for some people it is very difficult…
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A sad truth of getting older is leaning on props…any props… and watching the freedom of others. However, those props can be the means of renewed strength.
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Wonderful voice that you have infused into this poem!
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Oh, I LOVE looking into windows! I have spent my life doing so, on long walks, imagining the lives lived within. Cool perspective……..Now for the poem……..I resonate with the person using a cart for the cane. I do that. Some elderly do lead very lonely lives. They feel set aside and forgotten. Not me, but I once worked in seniors’ care facilities, so I know this very well.
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Very sad to see the older folks waiting for death ~ I would love to believe and hope that I will continue to be busy as bee, even with a cane ~
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The elderly R us it seems. I already have to use shopping carts as canes; but what the hell–strike the D in “disable” & find IS ABLE.
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Oh how eloquently you’ve express the lives (I hesitate to say plight) of so many elderly. Sitting…waiting…families all busy with families…life moving on. A beautiful response to the prompt!
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That is how I would view the elderly as well, but maybe we are all like that in some way. Nice view inside.
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Another excellent write, Victoria…reading it, I am that old person…..
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