December 21, 2016

  • Watching Me Let Go

    The drowning man calls for help
    Do not ask me to stretch out my hand
    I’m on shore and you’re too far from land
    Above the waves I hear your water choked cry
    Your voice is fading like the sun from the sky
    You beg my aid but my promised help’s a lie
    The water’s rough and I’m too afraid to die
    My advice is to move toward the strand
    I’ve lost sight of you from where I stand
    The drowning man calls for help

    This poem is called a Symetrelle. It was created by Julie Moeller. It is a syllabic form with a specific rhyme scheme. The poem starts and ends with a single 7 syllable subject line. The next two lines are a rhyming couplet of 9 syllables per line. They are followed by a quatrain of 11 syllables per line written in a monorhyme. Followed by another rhyming couplet of 9 syllables per line with the catch that they must rhyme with the first couplet! It concludes with the repeat of the 7 syllable subject line. It sounds more difficult than it really is.

    This poem is a continuation of yesterday's post topic. Just to put your minds at ease, I am not dying nor are any of my close friends or family. This is about watching that long good-bye and being reluctant as well as helpless to render any assistance. Often the drowning person will pull their rescuer under and inadvertently cause the death of the person coming to their assistance. So I struggle with guilt in not having the power to change the situation and not having the courage to attempt the rescue - even though I know it is too late and the water is too deep.

Comments (8)

  • Deep topic. (Yes, pun intended)
    A sad, but well done poem.

    • Thanks Crystal. It is indeed a troubling situation. I'm really looking forward to getting away and heading south!

  • Amazing poem. People do as much as they can,but at some points, you have to just watch instead of intervene.

    • Thanks for the compliment. It isn't at all about choosing to act but rather being unable to assist. You watch from a distance and know that there is nothing you can do even if you are willing...

  • Unfortunately, there is not much anybody can do when the long goodbye sets in, other than "reaching out" with an occasional visit. I once visited a friend with Alzheimer's -- I wasn't sure she knew who I was, but her daughter was quite convinced that she recognized me. When I left, she repeatedly said "can you" -- her daughter interpreted that as "thank you."

    • Alzheimer's is a very painful long goodbye. I am fortunate that all my grandparents (and great grandparents) were in their "right minds" up to the very end. This letting go is not so much by choice as a complete helplessness to effect change. So I have no options but to let it go and make the best of the situation.

  • It's hard. Not a situation we want to be in.

    • Absolutely. My hands are ties and I must simply be a bystander and witness to the tragic events swirling around me.

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