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This is a poem on the pain endured by a girl who had cared for a young man who suffered from ulcerative colitis. They each had to carry their individual suffering as well as each others' pain, but as it transpires, not in equal measure.


Sit on your hands like Beatrice of old
Whose knowledge increased while she faced the cold
Not given to taking, but au contraire
Stabbed from a distance while hoping to share
A life with her heaven, her heart and her soul,
Her mate cast his skin so that she did behold
The self-seeking serpent
Whose sinews she knew
But his heart hid within
Was the heart of a shrew

She's been used and abused and her life had been lived
Just for him and only his sake.....
But the cure he received that removed all his bleeds
Had left just the soul of a snake
His ulcerous parts were excised into carts
And he no longer required his bag
He threw off his carer and no longer would wear her
Will she wither and dry like a rag?

A rag that had mopped up the faeces and coughed up
Detritus from deep down within
Of his bowels and his organs she'd cared for, and forgone
A life of her own to aid him
And yet even then
When she dreamt once again
Of a future that she'd held so dear
While the treatment he got had allowed him his lot
To a world where he could now appear
Her heart remained true to this boy who withdrew
From her love which she fed with her tears.



He eventually had to undergo massive surgery, to remove his ulcerated colon. His doctors removed all of the damaged tissue, namely the whole of his colon. Once he had recovered, he finished with the girl and set off on his own path. She still loved him and was happy for him, because he could now enjoy life without pain, even though it was a life without her.


The surgeons, having removed all of his colon, created a small colon out of his illium. The small colon was left to knit together within him. He used a bag for those months. After a few months of using the bag, they reconnected the new small colon to his rear end, and he was able to rejoin the rest of us in normal bodily functions.

It is a true story. He was healed and he dumped her. In retrospect, she was better off without him. In retrospect, her heart was bigger than his colon.

sad story,but has far reaching implications.
elazar

quite amazing poem.i lay in a hospital once,not too long ago,for a month.i almost lost my leg,due to a sports injury.i wont bore you with the details,but my mom was with me 24/7.i guess this poem draws retrospect
for me in particular,as to the sacrifice of the "carer" and the indifferance one may suffer,as they lie in agony and self pity.i had lennie and beatles "one" to keep things going.never the less,i was downright tempermental at times. "hows the leg"would at times trigger a spew of apithats that would make my friends and family retreat,to the corner.
the legs pretty much healed,and i think they've forgotten my out of control behavior.the poem does have a deep message.
nice.
elazar

Byron~Your poem is very moving in subject matter and metaphorically well composed. Your empathy is heartwarming. When it comes to things such as this, perceived injustices, all i can do is fall back on my unfaltering belief in karma. It sounds as if the woman in your poem was operating on pure generousity. Giving to give and not with motives of reciprocation. Her's is a great heart and a story not to be pitied. His on the other hand surely is. Thanks for sharing. You have great writing style . regards, L

Using the words: "stabbed", "snake", "ulcerous parts", "bowels", "organs", "feces", and "tears" all in one poem - Magnificent.

And then that wonderful postscript where you tell us that his whole colon was removed. Sheer genius.