The Giving Machine

A poem about caregiver burn out.

It was not long ago
So it would seem
When patience and loving
Made such a team
Interlocking their gears
Without a seam
For fueling the engine
The giving scene.

But where have they gone now
What was once so keen
Love always the pillar
Now begins to lean
From patience the matrix
Tolerance now weans
And what of the victim
Rarely heard or seen.

Will the mind meld and mend
The widening ravine
Possibly it's over
Like a wakening dream
And the heart wells with tear
Bursting with loss it screams!
It's time to move on now
New life now sparkling clean.

But it can't be denied
Deeply rooted in gene
The purpose of living
For the giving machine.

1988

Author's Note

Graduating syllable count in this one. 6-4, 6-5, 6-6 and the chorus 6-6. I turned this one into a rap song singing the chorus between verses rocking it. Keeping the rhyme going as long as possible without repeating.