Tag: Caregiver

Don’t Forget The Caregiver

Don’t Forget The Caregiver

She asks for nothing but time
so she might remember
who she is and
that for one waking
moment she does not have
to worry about his needs
That she might be herself
The one she knows still exists
Someone carefree who brought
joy into a room with her smile
and a sense of playfulness and fun

She wishes to be left alone
to be perfectly selfish
To think of only herself for just a while
To worry not of doctors’ appointments
and transportation,
of groceries and cooking
To worry not of tending to another’s desires
To listen not to constant rhetoric
of the unfairness that has befallen him 
and hear not his reminders of her duty
bound by their marriage vows

Being constantly sapped of energy
She finds herself drowning in his pool
and litany of demands
Struggling to breathe her own air
Her face now a mask hiding
the weariness of caregiving
Her laughter silenced
and wishes go unanswered
Clinging to hope that one day
it will be different from the one before
Or she may just lose her mind


Copyright © 2022 Christine Bolton - Poetry for Healing
All Rights Reserved

Lillian is hosting Open Link Night at D'Verse Poets

Venting

Venting

My thoughts erratic
scattered like dead leaves
In a barren field
Flying every which way
Undisciplined
and confusing

My head spins 
As it tries to remember
Everything that needs to be done 
Not only for you but for me too
Intimidating
and daunting

My identity lost
Drowned in your pool
of needs and wants
Your incapacities
Demanding
and exhausting

My sanity teeters
On the edge of unreason
Your only responses
indifferent and perfunctory
Dismaying
and disheartening

My energy level low
When did I become invisible?
A means only to your end
Being your caregiver
Debilitating
and demoralizing


Copyright © 2021 Christine Bolton - Poetry for Healing
All Rights Reserved


Word Prompts

My - Stream of Consciousness
Discipline - Word of the Day
Scattered- RDP
Field - FOWC

Who Cares?

Who Cares?

Who cares
For the caregiver? 
Pained and weary
But must deliver
Quietly absorbing
another’s pain 
Shouldering the weight
Suffering the bane
 
Does anyone ask
How you are feeling? 
Bring me this, don’t do that 
Can’t they see, you’re reeling? 
Tired from journeying 
Several times a day
Waiting, watching
Hurry up and stay
 
Observing from the perimeter
Of the hospital room
Nurses and doctors 
And aides, none of whom
Will ask how you are, or
anything they can do
Can you come again at noon?
There’s something you must do
 
It’s a thankless task
You do out of love
Your kindness unnoticed
misplaced like a lost glove
Excuses made 
Even when things are better
A convenient punching bag
tied down with a fetter
 
Paradise lost 
What was it worth?
Forgotten dreams
Fallen to earth
Feeling used and abused
but the words can never be said
You are not the one sick
But wishing you were the one dead
 
 
 
Christine Bolton - Poetry for Healing ©

Word Prompts:

Worth

Lost

Paradise

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