Aphasia
Aphasia
Original Text
Dale Zieroth, The Weight of my Raggedy Skin
(Vancouver, B.C.: Polestar, 1991).
2over
3that cannot be comprehended.
4One moment she is among us
5reaching for her purse….
6The nurses clean and cuddle,
7talk numbers--
9and these we babble to friends
10and those givers of ill advice,
11hours when the smells are
12not our own, even children
13quietening down
15where she lives.
16After a journey of many simplicities
17we spy her still
18alone, at a great distance, immobile
19behind that other number
20none can guess. We practice
21contact
22but she cannot
23at first we smash up
24inside all night
25after hours of visitation have safely
26passed and the dark leads us
27away. Alone on the ward
28she hunts for bed
29car teech comb.
Notes
1] aphasia: impairment of language production. Back to Line
8] blood pressure 110/60 (normal). Back to Line
14] dumbness: inability to speak. Back to Line
RPO poem Editors
Ian Lancashire / Sharine Leung
RPO Edition
2011
Rhyme
Form
Special Copyright
Copyright © David Zieroth. Written permission is required to republish the poem.