Caregivers Lament
There’s death; there’s
also an extended half-death
that magnifies a
caregiver’s pre-grief pain
as a loved one
endures, deterioration of the brain.
Day after week after
month I saw her life ebb,
one by one bodily
functions slipped away.
I knew they
wouldn’t return on some other day.
Both trapped, were
we, on a one-way street,
daylight fading as
it surrendered to black.
Doctors counseled,
there’s no turning back.
Anxiety had become
my constant shadow
for I had begun to
die, too.
In all directions,
I sought answers: What can I do?
Worry about each
day’s agenda dogged me
like a puppy pulling the leg of my pants;
any thoughts of tomorrows, squirmed with can’ts.
* *
*
Time has passed
and my beloved is gone;
I have
tried to re-build, to move along…
but I hear mostly
sounds, seldom songs.
Copyright © 2017 by
Steven C. Brandt
A. 00138.1
