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The Caregiver
A few weeks before
my father died
I remember cleaning
his shit from out the bathtub.
It wasn’t normal
that he got so confused
but he’d been flushing
garbage down the toilet
for weeks so I’d turned off
the water to avoid another midnight flood.
If I’m honest,
the tub afforded me
a little more sleep.
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(08-18-2017, 02:23 AM)Tiger the Lion Wrote: The Caregiver
A few weeks before
my father died
I remember cleaning
his shit from out the bathtub.
It wasn’t normal
that he got so confused This is my favourite line.
but he’d been flushing
garbage down the toilet
for weeks so I’d turned off
the water to avoid another midnight flood.
If I’m honest,
the tub afforded me
a little more sleep.
This was fun to read. I think the title of the poem might be better as "The Caretaker" to reflect the janitorial aspects of the care being given more.
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:-(
poignant
touching
~ I think I just quoted myself - Achebe
Posts: 692
Threads: 363
Joined: May 2014
Thanks guys. I have a few words and line breaks I might reconsider toying with if I keep this one. It was written quickly and I got excited by the ugliness of it.
@WJ... apart from the janitorial connection, changing the title to "the caretaker" might be a little too introspectively concise for the N. I'm not sure if he/she is there yet.
Paul
just mercedes
Unregistered
This is powerful. Also very taken by the caretaker/caregiver dichotomy.
My mother lived for twenty years after losing her mind. Needed 24/7 care.
She seemed happy, most of the time. She broke her hip one time,
and the nurses gave her a high colonic irrigation, then left her
in a shower chair, shitting. My sister and I took care of her.
So your shit thing, I recognised.
