Aphasia
Letters, words, and phrases
Once piled, filed in my brain
Dumped went all the drawers
Words went all askew
Files, unsorted, scattered
Mixed messages now astrew
To this scene I now awaken
Into this dreadful dream
Perplexed and puzzled
Tears now stream
Reasonable realignment
Unfeasible, Unworkable,
Words washed away
Impossible to reach
Imprisoned within
Words from others
Echo in my ears
“Sufferered stroke,” “healing hospital”
Only fuel fears.
Familiar faces
Names don’t know
Smiles and tears
Both do flow
Days now pass
I try to speak
It’s hard to find
The words I seek.
I find only
a
massive
mountain of
tangled terms from
which to pick and choose.
I strain to say the sounds and work the words.
Those around me puzzled, don’t quite understand.
I know ‘things’ and ‘objects,’ on much more
I can’t expand.
Frustrated, Unfulfilled
Feeling strained and stumped
Searching for simple syllables
In massive mounds where they were dumped.
[My husband suffered a stroke on November 15, 2012. His therapist tried to explain to me what aphasia was. As frustrating as it is for the victim to make himself understood, it can be equally frustrating for the caregiver who wants to understand. This poem is my effort to have others understand.]
Copyright © Sue K Green | Year Posted 2014
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