a chasm yawns between hope and despair
Thank you to Margaret Royall for her deeply moving entry to the competition and Voices blog. Margaret has maintained a passion for poetry since childhood and she performs regularly at Writer’s Live Southwell and leads a Nottinghamshire women’s poetry group. In September 2017 a collection of her poetry entitled ‘Fording The Stream’ was published under the penname Jessica De Guyat. Margaret will also be releasing more of her work through Hedgehog Poetry Press later this year. We really appreciate Margaret’s kind contribution.
LIFE IS AN UNSCRIPTED JOURNEY
No bars, no jailer – no escape
through the door of the prison cell….
Despair dances on shallow breath,
Bitten nails dig deep into palms;
a chasm yawns between hope and despair
as the final countdown looms… tick tock…tick tock
–
Above the drone of hospice conversation
a radio is playing Rachmaninoff.
The aroma of freshly popped toast
buttered with grief wafts up from the kitchen
Everywhere the relentless trivia of life intrude,
as invisible blood drips from my wounds,
pooling into a lake of deep crimson, like the hips
on the winter rose bush beyond the window
–
Glioblastoma devours his brain –
grade four, no treatment, bad prognosis…
“Take him home to die, enjoy
what time is left” advises the specialist….
words that trip far too lightly off his tongue,
as though he is dictating a memo,
a thoughtless remark devoid of compassion…
I struggle to find a morsel of forgiveness
–
Gritting my teeth, I steel myself
for the grim hours ahead, maybe just minutes?
He is drifting away from me second by second…
One last heart-stopping time I stoop
and bathe his withered lips with my tears,
then, all too soon the last… breath…… comes,
gently, like a dove settling on an olive branch.
Unexpectedly I feel a deep sense of relief
Margaret Royall, Nottinghamshire
Did you enjoy this poem? Why not visit Maggie’s website at: Maggie’s Centre Nottingham to find out more about their exceptional work and/or make a donation. Do you have a poem you would like to submit to Voices? Feel free to do so by email at: voicespoetry@outlook.com or via the ‘Contact’ page on this site.
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