Sen99
Sen99
Jun 13, 2024
This poem is part of the contest:

Neopoet Weekly 06/09/24 to 06/15/24

(Read More...)

An Opera Singer

Joan was practicing her scales,
Her vocal histrionics,
Resounding down the corridor.
Help me
Help me please

Her ululations at fever pitch
Reverberating off the walls.
On the verge of hysterics
Help Me
Don’t leave me

Comically trilling
In half Italian or obscure German
Her shrill coloratura
Imperfect pitch trembling
An unknown aria
Please don’t leave me

Joan was talking in tongues
Calling up the spirits and devils
Pleading and preaching
A devotional cantor
Crying and wailing at a wake

Listening to her through a wall
While sitting here for the last hour
A siren song of dementia
Her voice gradually fades,
Tired and exhausted
Help Me
Please

An emergency buzzer hangs limp
Broken and soundless.

About This Poem

Style/Type: Free verse

Review Request Direction: What did you think of my title?
How was my language use?
How does this theme appeal to you?
How was the beginning/ending of the poem?
Is the internal logic consistent?

Review Request Intensity: I want the raw truth, feel free to knock me on my back

Editing Stage: Editing - polished draft

About the Author

Region, Country: Nottinghamshire England, GBR

More from this author

Comments

Lavender

Hello, Sen,
This is raw and heartbreaking. Very dramatic. If I read correctly, you have touched on the hard, painful subject of dementia. Very effective use of the life and voice of an opera singer. I'll read this again soon.
Thank you,
L

Sen99

I really appreciate you reading and commenting on this, you are correct it is about a dementia patient, challenging to write about, more distressing to hear and experience. Well done on winning the weekly contest and your new one is very nice too.