Please Consider Those Who - Not By Choice - Are Living Alone - 1st Third
Here's why this was necessary...
This is, as indicated, the 1st THIRD of a lengthy 3-part poem. The 2nd and 3rd THIRDS had to be posted separately due to Poetry Soup's file-size limitations. Sorry, no other way I could manage to make it happen...
Thanks for reading,
Mark
Please Consider Those Who - Not By Choice - Are Living Alone
This piece addresses the “plight of the lonely”, victims condemned by no fault of their own,
Who’re wrestling with sadness...believe they’re forgotten...and fighting their battles entirely alone.
Living alone is a double-edged-option that too many people attempt for too long,
And many who choose to -- rather than have to -- discover, too late, their decision was wrong.
Such was the case with a woman I met that was older than many I’d encountered before,
And as long as I live I will always remember the look on her face when she opened the door
And saw me - a salesman - there on her landing...armed with a case and a well- rehearsed grin,
And I’d no more than bid her a cheerful, “Good day”…when she slightly withdrew and invited me in!
The gal, who I’m guessing was eighty, at least...labored her way to a tattered old chair.
“So...what‘re ya’ sellin’?” she cordially asked...as she shifted her glasses and tapped at her hair.
“My name is Jimmy McFurson,” I said...“I saw, on your mailbox, that yours is Nadine.
I’ve only just started so kindly bear with me...I’m still, as you’ll see, just a little bit green!
“I carry some - personal products, my dear, that are slightly more costly on line and in stores.
I can’t work full time ‘cause I’m going to school...so, to pay my tuition, I’m knockin’ on doors!”
“Makeup is something I don’t really need ‘cause I rarely go out,” she politely replied,
“But I’ve got a granddaughter, close to your age, I can’t seem to please, and believe me...I’ve tried.
“I saw her last Christmas for almost an hour...she stopped with her boyfriend to pick up her gift.
I gave her a piece of my carnival glass, but knew - by the look on her face - she was miffed!
“She knows how things are...that I’m practically broke...and all I can give her are things that I’ve got,
But maybe I’ll find something someone her age would be tickled to get - as likely as not -
“Hidden away in your big, fancy case that ‘ll help me with showing her how much I care.
I know there are fragrances, powders and creams that women much younger than I like to wear,
“So that’s what I’m hopin’ you’re sellin’,” she said…“cosmetics a girl pushin’ twenty can use!”
Well...glancing around, I could easily deduce...by piecing together a handful of clues...
That showing my goods to a client like this...who, to me, it was obvious, didn’t have a dime...
Because I was certain she couldn’t afford them...would be - without question - a waste of my time.
However…
the warmth of her smile - the trust in her eyes - and the charm in her innocent voice -
Together would help me ignore my compulsion, and furnish the strength for reversing my choice.
Placing my case on her small kitchen table, I lifted the lid and commenced with my spiel.
She gave me her hand and I gently applied a cream that was famous for making skin feel
Silky and smooth...look younger - and firmer. Her tired eyes shown when I tossed her a smile
And assured her...“By wearing exotic perfume, I’ll bet you’ll have suitors lined up for a mile!”
The laughter I’d fetched, with my silly remark, I imagined was something she rarely enjoyed,
And, as I continued to demonstrate samples, I searched, all the while, for a means to avoid
Hurting her feelings. Thinking her vulnerable...and feeling I’d, more or less, broken the ice...
I tactfully pried into issues that one who is hoping to help often will…‘cause I’m nice!
“It’s none of my business...but I was just wond’ring...might you be living here all by yourself?
I noticed the picture of you and - I’m guessing - your husband, my dear - sittin’ up there on that shelf.”
“Yes,” she replied, with a noticeable whimper. “My Dale was the best man the world’s ever known,
But twenty-one years ago he -- and our only child, Danny -- were killed...so, yes, I am living alone!
“Danny’s wife, Karen, never did like me...and wouldn’t - if she could - even speak to his dad,
And every last one of my siblings is gone, and all of the in-laws and friends that I had
“Are either deceased or are livin’ in care, so, except for the mailman, thank God...a sucker for shootin’ the breeze...
I’ve only my granddaughter out in LA who’s the sort who will typically do as they please.
“Her only concern is...what’s in it for her. The last time she left she said...‘See ya’ next year!’
That was in April,” she sniffled…..in April!” and - watching her closely - I noticed a tear
Working its way down a cute little furrow that, as it turned out, we’d slightly diminished with cream,
And I knew, by the photos of Dale and their son...that she was the last of a sizable team.
Please see 2nd and 3rd portions on Soup under Mark Stellinga, it's worth the read...
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