This feels sad and romantic at the same time.
He goes on telling his stories but his only audience is the memory of a woman.
(Is what it feels like to me...)
Reading this brought tears in my eyes..
The loner's pain is clearly felt in this poem. Even if someone calls it a condition, it still shows the attachment this person has for the bereaved partner. To lose someone we love the most is agony eternal for the loser.
Kudos to your writing. Thanks for sharing this touching work......".
I dunno why but this feels like a ghost story, a wife who haunts lovingly his mind, listening to the stories told and told again, smiling at the memories he replays like a Nina Simone album till ol' Tom can join her,
her laughter ringing in his mind.
Oh my....this one gave me goosebumps, Jacob. When people have been married for a long time and one gets dementia, all that is left is the love. The stories of what once was might be a bit skewed, but they are told and they are heard. The love is what keeps a person going. What a poignant tale. The clock ticking....the stories unraveling in his mind. Have to say when I read the title, all I could think of was the theme song to "Frazier"...tossed salad and scrambled eggs. Deeply emotional write, Jacob. Lydi**
You can almost hear the conversation.
The journey it took is spot on.
Leading us to the painful ticking of the clock.
The mind withdrawing into itself.
Bloody good poem Jacob.
I'm taking it that this is dementia related. When age and illness relieve us of our memories, what then, have we never been. This is sad, so ,so sad, but not fir them, for us that have to watch loved ones that no longer realise who we are, and we then end up mourning them whilst they are still living. Superb Jacob
Originally from Bronx, NY, I live in Carbondale, Illinois...teach English at a community college and have been writing and publishing poetry since 1970. I am here to read for inspiration from other po.. more..