The highlight for him, is a breath of fresh air
And have just one cigarette with the people “out there”
But once he’s outside, the panic sets in
He shuffles, then freezes, amidst all the din.
I don’t know his illness, dementia or worse.
Maybe it’s age or was he blessed with a curse?
He sits down to coffee but then walks away,
His coffee’s untouched from a brain now decayed.
A green yellow glaze discolours his eyes
With a vacant expression of thoughts, I surmise
Of constantly pacing the floor all day long
And asking himself, “Where do I belong?”
This educated man once had thick golden hair,
A scholar perhaps, quite suave, debonair.
Now the blond’s grey, his youthfulness gone,
He needs special care, all day long.
I’m not his carer, I couldn’t handle the stress,
He just wants his life back, no more and no less.
This could be you with your life totally wrecked
But he still has dignity so show some respect.
His life once so rich now lies in a heap,
Memories treasured, he no longer can keep.
Through no fault of his own did he end up this way,
His memory’s dying, it’s dying each day.
The helplessness, hurt and the pain deep inside
Reflects in his eyes through the tears he has cried.
He’s breaking his heart but doesn’t know why,
He only seeks solace, like you or like I.
Paul Colvin
Help for drivers
As a relatively new Lary I have a small tip to
pass on to any larys. I get quite frustrated
when trying to talk on the phone, due
to my speech impediment (I am having
trouble enunciating) so I have switched my
car breakdown service provider to RAC as,
unlike their major rivals, they offer a text
message service for breakdown recovery.
Alan Dolby
The Pretence
The mask we wear, that smiles and lies,
So hides the tears, that’s in our eyes.
We practice hard, with inner guile.
With torn and bleeding heart, we smile.
Why should we show them otherwise?
Why should we let them hear our sighs?
Let them not think, or dare to ask,
That this our smile is just a mask.
Len Hynds
The Speechless Poet
Corrections
Thanks for your latest copy of ‘The Voice’.
I was looking at your support directory
and thought you might like to add
LaryngectomyLife.com to it.
Your article regarding Web Whispers has an
inaccuracy, Dutch Helms passed away in
2006. The current president is Pat Sanders
and she lives in Birmingham Alabama.
Stephen Bishop
Ed: Thanks Steve. We’ve added Laryngectomy Life to
our expanding Directory. Apologies for the confusion
over the date.
Thanks also for the copies of The Voice. I am
very pleased with the article. Just a small
point to note please in the Web Whispers
article on page 30 my late father Sydney is
referred to as Clifford. Don’t know how that
crept in.
Carole Stainton
Ed: The gremlins were certainly at work last issue.
Sorry about that Carole. On a related note, we
hope that plenty of our readers have had a chance
to read Sydney’s excellent and enlightening book,
‘Laryngectomy is not a Tragedy’. You can contact
Carole for more information...
Autumn 2011 | THE VOICE
33