Don't Mention the 'P' Word

By Silver Spun Sand

Tue, 08 Oct 2013
  • 1305 reads
7 comments
 

“Well...just look who it isn’t!
Only said the other week
I’d not seen hide nor hair of you,
and now look who I meet.
 

They told me what the trouble was –
well, you know how folk’ll talk;
if I’m honest though, I guessed as much,
from the tell-tale way you walk.
 

My dear old dad, God rest his soul,
had the self-same thing, you see,
but he never beefed about it –
said, ‘There’s plenty worse than me.’
 

That’s true enough, but hand on heart,
and I don’t mind telling you,
the Lord alone knows how I’d feel
if I had the damned thing too.

 Still, sure as eggs is blooming eggs,
life carries on the same,
we have to make the best of it. Say,
don’t it look like rain?”
 

“It’s really good to see you, too;
don’t get out much, not of late.
When they told me I’d got Parkinson’s –
took the wind right out my sails.
 

Take my hat off to your father –
would have liked to shake his hand;
the pun was as intended; your dad –
he’d understand.

 I’ve just been down to Waitrose,
but the whole thing was frustrating,
fumbling at the checkout – keeping
all them people waiting.
 

Turned a deaf ear to their ‘tutting’ –
kept that stiff, upper lip – quipped,
“I can but beg your pardon...
what I cannot do is ‘quick’.”
 

Then I carried on regardless,
told them ‘Have a nice day’.
Well, you have to laugh, don’t you?”
 

Or cry...as they say?

 

 

Certificate PG
Poem
Silver Spun Sand Poems
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Comments

Submitted by Ray Schaufeld on

I like the everyday speech in this. 'The English' - I am English and my parents are both from Eastern Europe do this non-stop. They will express deep pain and then say 'can't complain', 'mustn't grumble' etc.    Elsie

Submitted by Silver Spun Sand on

Thanks, Elsie. So pleased you picked up on that; as it was quite a challenge to write, in more ways than one.  There are so many aspects to Parkinson's and most people don't understand the condition, so tend to shy away from it...as used to be the case with cancer.  Fortunately, things have changed, on that score, but with Parkinson's it still remains rather 'taboo' to mention it, as I experience so very much, unfortunately, in my everyday life. They think it is just something old people get, but my husband was only fifty when he was diagnosed.

Tina

 

Submitted by Steve on

There are beautiful things about everyday speech and Elsie does very well with everyday speech. Everyday speech is very rhythmic too and most people are pretty poetic without knowing it. James Joyce brought out the poetry in everyday speech in Ulysses. Beauty doesn't have to be like: "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day/ Thou are more lovely or more temperate..." or "What flight or wonder dare compares/ to thine eyes, those dovely pairs." Beauty is when you see the appropriate relations between the parts of a whole... see its rhythmic necessity... and understand the whole which gives you sense of "wholeness." That is beauty, the thingness of the thing which most Postmodernists deny as existent.

 

Submitted by Silver Spun Sand on

Steve - there is so much in what you say...getting right to the heart of the matter as you do.  So very thanks for giving me many thoughts to mull over, and I thank you, so very much;-)

Tina

 

Submitted by Silver Spun Sand on

Hi there, bb.  Thanks, so very much for that link.  I shall follow it up.

Much obliged to you for reading this poem, and for taking the time to comment, so favourably, and helpfully.  It means very much to me.

Tina

 

Submitted by Denzella on

Hello Tina,

Just seen this and had to comment.  You are so right when you say people don't understand the condition.  Yesterday a neighbour was talking to my husband  and he happened to mention that I had P.  The neighbour said 'Oh, that's just a bit of a shake, isn't it?.  Tell that to Derek when I have to wake him just to turnover in bed.  The latest one is medication.  Is your husband on ropinerole?  I am or, at least, I would be if I could  break into the blessed blister pack.

I hope this poem doesn't mean that your husband's condition is worsening.  Give him my best wishes, please. 

Moya

 

Submitted by Silver Spun Sand on

Hi there, Moya...hubby couldn't agree more with what you say about ropinirole, or Requip, the brand name, he takes, but they're all much of a muchness. He takes  one, two miligram tablet, six times a day.  He says, and these are his words, 'The blister pack  are bloody ridiculous!'  So there you are, straight from the horse's mouth, so to speak;-)

I'm really glad you found the time to read and comment on this one, Moya, and no...folk just don't understand. Turning over in bed, getting in and out of bed, especially when he's 'off', is a total nightmare.  Along with  many things, as you well know, way too numerous to mention. Things most people take for granted.

As for his condition, generally, well yes, he does deteriorate, as the dosage he is on is at its maximum, but he does keep himself busy, although accepting his limitations is an uphill struggle.

Ah well, musn't grumble, as they say, and I hope you're having one of them good days;-)

Tina