Thursday 5 August 2010

Just a little resolve

It would be OK if everyday was normal,
Where independence was a natural occurrence,
Where people walk alone
& shop in the market
Without a need for another clinging to their pocket.

There are things so lost of healthy people
Like the freedom of choice & time
The freeness of dancing alone in a club,
To the freedom making words to rhyme

The reality:

Wanting to go & fix some caffeine
From a real coffee shop, from a real bean
Means waiting around until you can be wheeled,
To your destination in the urban field

For example, a trip to read books,
Can be lost on the non-dexterous
Or you need someone to look
Or some to carry & hold, such a fuss.

Off to the cinema
Where life is at best, a fix f' hypoglycaemia
Means a trip on the bus, did you get your right stop?
Did you fall when it wobbled?
Did you fit, did you flop?

Having someone around to help you to the show
Mean not getting lost or a sugar overdose
Means someone to hold you when you body ticks
Means someone to hold you when the bus kicks


(The time you have to bust a move
Becomes the time you have to bust your groove,
But don't let this get your down, Claire
You can sit & dance away in your chair.)

How to resolve:

They are times when you feel alone,
In the bad way when your pain has over grown.
But there are others going through the same
And enjoying your own company will keep you sane.

Instead of walks alone, the sweet silver song
Your carer, paid or otherwise, does not belong
In your thoughts, they are all yours to sing
Aloud and inside, & think your own thing.


You don't have to say a word
If you want the peace & quiet,
Mumble your needs to them
And no fuss or maddening riot.

Dreams of flying can be real
If you only stop and feel the breeze,
If you can't make it out that day
Open the window & breathe your cares away.

Maybe stop & dictate a poem
on your speech software & think, a-low-en.
Please embrace your talents, for knitting
Embrace the things that you can do sitting.

Dream wild dreams of letting go
& write/draw/read/sing & let it flow.
This is the best way to find YOU in your ability
Someone who helps you out is lessening your disability.

So grab for independence
It's OK if you need a hand,
Solitude around people
Can be found.

*songs I was inspired by today
R. Rogers/O. Hammerstein II - You'll Never Walk Alone
Foo Fighters -Resolve

2 comments:

Rehan Qayoom said...

'Where independence was a natural occurrence,' is unconsciously cosy and twee as in the later Auden and that is 'OK'. I can't recall the academic term for this literary device that was a favourite of Auden's - 'just reeling off their names is ever so comfy' ('Bucolics: Lakes') 'the expensive delicate ship' ('Musée des Beaux Arts') 'voluntary errand' and so on.

The use of the word fix in the second section is reminscent of (used in exactly the same sense) Pope's:


Equal, the injur'd to defend,
To charm the Mistress, or to fix the Friend.


Reel with me. It is good to have someone to hold hands with, to hold on to, to be with, to be part of. The saint and mystic Rumi (one of the greatest Islamic saints and poets) wrote that it is only when grapes dance together and whirl into each other that wine is produced.

Chronically Claire said...

Rumi was right, I feel so...strange being alone, I do strange things when I am alone too, but I do great things when I have people around me (like my fave poet x).