It's not often a television documentary prompts my pen. This one did, though.

Tony's Mum

She couldn't talk any more,
that was the worst of it.
She couldn't talk
any more...

And she'd always talked,
all her life!
'Talk the leg off a chair'
the family would complain
with love in their voices.

And later
at the nursing home,
they'd smile
as she nattered non stop
about the goings on of
this one and that one.
She couldn't remember their names,
but it didn't matter -
Nobody minded.

But today
she looked at us
with such wide-stretched eyes,
trying so hard -

That was the worst of it...

Raj Arumugam
Love the poem and its narrative style, Alison...The poem culminates in a dramatic end with the last line, like life...

Ernestine Northover
They can be extremely moving and heart wrenching, yet one has to watch somehow. Very sad getting old!!!!! Beautifully explained.

Kannan G
Thanks for letting me know the context of the poem. Given the background, when I read again, I find more beauty in it than I saw before. The poignancy of the situation stands out. Best wishes.

Kannan G
Touching. I am ignorant of the context still enjoyed the pathos of the content. The silenced eloquence of a mother....

sonetta
it's so sad...her frustration and the others' inability to help her.....one of the most cruelest of diseases....

Sana Rose
So touching, Al... Can't help being moved - anyone could be like this... Let's live life to the full when we are able...

Susan Jarvis
The repetition of the word 'talk' and the telling phrases; 'Talk the leg off a chair', and 'nattered non stop', giving way to the absence of all verbal communication and giving in to the 'wide-stretched eyes' of endeavour at the end of the poem, tears at the heart. A poem full of pain and compassion that will resonate with many...a perfect creation from a poet with a heart of gold. :)

Leslie Alexis
This nearly brought tears to my eyes... but then i paused and remembered they're hope!

nimal dunuhinga
Prowess, Certainly Alison carries heartbreak painstakingly!

Munia Khan
I especially love the lines -'Talk the leg off a chair' the family would complain with love in their voices...very very well written Allie...melancholy makes this verse more beautiful...Love this.

Karin Anderson
I knew someone just like Tony's Mum and even though one can become irritated with constant talking, there is such an emptiness when they stop. So "talking the leg off the chair" and the love her family showed really stood out for me. The latter part of the poem, so heart wrenching and "wide-stretched eyes" somehow stretched out on the page for me. So perceptive in your penning as always Alison.

Don
I have seen this in loved ones. You captured the pain eloquently and starkly. Powerful.

robyn selters
Ooh! That would hurt... seeing the vacant stare... how cruel is this disease...when one's mind is no longer one's friend

Fay Slimm
Ending just where it should, this verse stretches out into beyondness and takes us into the intimate world of folk like Tony's Mum so perceptively - - you have the ability of creating a vision Allie which glides with un-worded clarity into the heart. Your last line really does it for me.

mistycalpoet
Oh I can relate to this my granny was like that... heart warming and deeply felt penning Allie as always...

PrEmJi PrEmJi
Pain..deep rooted....lovely write.......

Sandra Martyres
Allie, you write the most heart-rending and touching poems...I can empathise with this one ....My Dad was a bit like that..He could talk the hind legs off a donkey..(to use a cliche) a geniel, jovial, gregarious kind of guy with an unending repetoire of jokes..but he met the same fate as Tony's Mom....it was terrible for all of us