Poem: The Silenced Keyboard

I wrote this 3 or 4 years ago when I realized my arthritis had worsened to the point that I could no longer continue writing full time. It was a bittersweet time for me, and while I'm sure that all my frustration shows, I hope some humor does too.

The Silenced Keyboard

If it were simply this stiffness that I suffered
Just maybe there would be some way to ignore it
Or if all I had to endure was a staggering pain
I might focus inward to somehow blindly carry on
But this most evil partnership that now inflicts
My every waking moment seems to rob me of meaning
For who is a writer if he no longer can pen words
With pencil and paper nor his computer’s keyboard
Because like no other profession known to society
A man of words does become his collected thoughts

As I gaze upon these trembling fingers and hands
The swollen joints and gnarled knobs haunt me so
While stanzas and ideas plead for their release
Too often they remain trapped deep within my id
A coffee drinker, spare me your tea and sympathy
I still have many ways in which to express myself
Unlike victims afflicted with dreaded Alzheimer’s
And so as I bemoan these woes I have now collected
I’ll remind myself to count my assorted blessings
There are still so many ways to celebrate my life

So as I lash out at the shortcomings I do possess
A spark of compassion weeps for those worse than I
For I still use this wondrous gift of imagination
While these hands may have abandoned my creativity
At least I still dream, & hope, & remember the past
Even in my agony I do shudder for those mentally ill
Who like my late father, must live in a painful void
No, it isn’t wrong to regret these slings and arrows
That litter and burden the pathways of my existence
But can we offer understanding to stricken friends

I won’t suffer in silence, like my underused keyboard
At least I still can hunt and peck occasional poetry
So although I might be hopeless I’m not yet helpless
While I do feel for those poor souls worse off than I
My focus of course is upon my aches & pains & woes
There are countless articles and stories left undone
Which to many folk might be a blessing in disguise
The world will hardly miss any of my unwritten wisdom
But as these creative juices of mine go unfulfilled
I can’t help but feel that part of me has been lost.

Despite the theme you were portraying tiltjlp, I thoroughly enjoyed the expertise and style that you showed in the writing of this poem. I feel it is a poem full of meaning and feeling and I also think that you have conveyed this sense in a comprehensible manner. You have an aptitude for creativity, I feel you already know that and it shows.

Originally Posted by kundalini

Despite the theme you were portraying tiltjlp, I thoroughly enjoyed the expertise and style that you showed in the writing of this poem. I feel it is a poem full of meaning and feeling and I also think that you have conveyed this sense in a comprehensible manner. You have an aptitude for creativity, I feel you already know that and it shows.

Thank you, I appreciate your kind comments. I like to think that I've learned a little something over the past 50 years. But I try to keep learning and improving with every poem. Feel free to follow my link to Word By Word for a nice variety of poems from a number of talented authors. Thanks again.

John

Originally Posted by tiltjlp

Thank you, I appreciate your kind comments. I like to think that I've learned a little something over the past 50 years. But I try to keep learning and improving with every poem. Feel free to follow my link to Word By Word for a nice variety of poems from a number of talented authors. Thanks again.

John

I have now registered at the forum, so thanks for the link, tiltjlp.

You're welcome. I hope you enjoy your visits. Read some of the work by Dark Angel, I think you'll enjoy it. She's only 12 but writes amazingly well.

John