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She Still Dreamed

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indar
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She Still Dreamed

Post by indar » Fri May 20, 2022 11:55 am

I torqued my knee in group ex class.
Rubbing in Aspercream I thought of Grandma,
defined in memory
by deformed knuckles, fingers clawed;
her morning ritual in her bedroom,
a miasma of arthritis cures and lineament fumes,
that trailed her tortured step-by-step
descent downstairs in time
to turn her green-eyed, console radio
to Helen Trent, the daytime drama
that asked the question: Can a woman
over thirty-five still find romance?


The Romance of Helen Trent — Radio Hall Of Fame

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Gyppo
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Re: She Still Dreamed

Post by Gyppo » Fri May 20, 2022 2:32 pm

I can see the Grandma, feel her pain as she works her way downstairs, and then dreams by the radio.

Gyppo
I've been writing ever since I realised I could.  Storytelling since I started talking.  Poetry however comes and goes  ;-)

indar
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Re: She Still Dreamed

Post by indar » Tue May 24, 2022 4:06 pm

Thank you, Gyppo, with apologies,

I didn't get back to you because this is one of those posts I'm way less than thrilled with and wanted to let it sink into the oblivion of page 2 as quickly as possible.

However, it turns out that the first 2 lines presaged a medical saga. I thought I was experiencing sciatica, that I'd injured my knee in zumba class, and the two were unrelated. 

Then I got 3 strange welts on my hip a few days later and concluded it was from a spider bite---a very potent one. It got so bad I went to the doctor with visions of brown recluses in my head. Turns out all 3 things were related. Despite being vaccinated 3 times, first with an early vaccine that was less effective and later with a 2-shot vaccine, I have contracted a case of shingles. The doctor says its relatively mild---I'd hate to ever get a severe case.

Too much self-diagnosis. 

 

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Gyppo
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Re: She Still Dreamed

Post by Gyppo » Wed May 25, 2022 2:31 pm

I can send you some sympathy, for whatever that may be worth.  I've seen it.  One of my Aunts had shingles, and the doctor was slow to diagnose and therefore treat it because '"I've never seen a real life case of it.  Only ever seen it in medical books."

My doctor was similarly disbelieving when I caught chickenpox in my late thirties.  I was scabby and itchy as hell for a couple of weeks.  When I mentioned this to Mum she laughed.  "That was probably the only standard childhood ailment you never had.   But you just breezed through most of them anyway.  A healthy outdoor child."

Scabby-faced like a crystal meth user.  And all over my body as well ;-(

I remember hating it because it made me feel 'unclean'.  I felt I should be ringing a bell to warn people as I walked around.

Gyppo
I've been writing ever since I realised I could.  Storytelling since I started talking.  Poetry however comes and goes  ;-)

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Colm Roe
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Re: She Still Dreamed

Post by Colm Roe » Wed May 25, 2022 6:38 pm

I like this, Linda. You show her well, her heroic stoicism, and despite her age/infirmity, she's still connected to her femininity.
Sad, subtly revealing, brimming with respect, and a sense of awe. 
Glad you're not too badly affected.
 

TrevorConway
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Re: She Still Dreamed

Post by TrevorConway » Thu May 26, 2022 1:34 am

Hi Linda,

I like the places this poem goes to, as well as the general tone/wording. It works very well. I'd just like to see more of a foreshadowing of the end, along with a longer build-up before thinking of Grandma. While rubbing in the cream, could the speaker first think about her own life a little, maybe about romance specifically? I presumed the part about the 35+ woman find romance also related to the speaker.

Trev

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Mark
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Re: She Still Dreamed

Post by Mark » Thu May 26, 2022 3:34 pm

indar wrote:
Tue May 24, 2022 4:06 pm

Then I got 3 strange welts on my hip a few days later and concluded it was from a spider bite---a very potent one. It got so bad I went to the doctor with visions of brown recluses in my head. Turns out all 3 things were related. Despite being vaccinated 3 times, first with an early vaccine that was less effective and later with a 2-shot vaccine, I have contracted a case of shingles. The doctor says its relatively mild---I'd hate to ever get a severe case.

Too much self-diagnosis. 

 
Apparently monkeypox is the new shingles or is it the other way around? Some talk that shingles/monkeypox is vaccine induced but I doubt it - who knows though...

What is solid is that the WHO as of current Davos will determine all countries' responses to any pandemics in the future. Is monkeypox just a test run to check compliance?

The different approaches to COVID19 by different countries is going to seem quaint.  

 

indar
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Re: She Still Dreamed

Post by indar » Tue May 31, 2022 10:04 am

Thank you Colm,
Yes--exactly my point!

GYppo,
My Dr. told me shingles is not contagious. But, as I'm inclined to do, I went straight to my computer when I got home, signed onto Mayo Clinic, a proven source of good information, and found that it's (slightly) possible, during certain stages of shingles, to give someone chicken pox. Beware, that virus is forever

Thank you, Trevor,
I'm not certain grandma's dream of romance is specifically what I intended but her belief in her future. I've said, as I pass through each decade, that certain doors close and one must redefine oneself--find new dreams. She was a champion at keeping on keeping on.

Thank you Mark.
Monkey pox--maybe now the idiots will have a different group to blame and stop beating up Asians--specifically elderly Asian women on the street. I just hope they don't start breaking into zoos.

It's been several years since I was vaccinated for shingles I doubt that's what brought this on. I have known people who got shingles and suffered horribly with it. I'm doing fine. I recommend vaccinations--but I would, my formative years were during the polio epidemic (thank you Dr. Salk).
 

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