Slow Mover
16/10/09 23:21 Filed in: Poems | Slow Mover
Slow Mover
by Stephen Shooster
Once upon a time
I wanted a roaring engine
with red and whites stripes
a fast mover
I would roll down the main street
revving my engine at a stoplight
all heads would turn
a fast mover.
Then one day
My dad finds out
he has ticking time bomb in his chest
A weakness in the artery.
within a week my world is upside down
finding my mom and brothers playing Scrabble in the ICU waiting room
While my dad fights for his life.
I let my mom win every time,
to lighten her spirits. (and because she's way better then me)
with a tube in his throat
and heart exposed
Body cooled down.
We laugh irreverently, nervously, but full belly laughs.
We only held hope in our thoughts, no other choice.
Finally 8 hours later... alive.... repaired.
Thinking back all I wanted was a fast mover.
Now for my dad the only way back.... is through the chasm. The only way back to our world for him was through the deep valley. Being tested by 1,000 challenges.
Bang... Restart the heart
stitch by stitch
Thwack Thwack Staples in the chest.
Stitch by loving stitch, pronto.
Rolling down the cavern into the cave
its dark, he cant see a thing...
(the cave is the ICU the first step after surgery, no windows, lots of attention)
He hears noise. A subway assault.
He thinks, "Who is breathing for me?"
Lights flash drip, drip
He thinks, "The enemy must have me tied down."
Kick nothing... no energy... sleep.
The only way back is through the chasm.
Bang, awake again. Can't talk. (Drugs manage the patient a little of this and your awake, that your asleep)
Haze, noise.
He thinks, "Who am I? Who is he?
the robot in him responds.
He thinks. "I must be captured."
Rest, torture, rest.
Hands flail, he thinks "I must escape. can't talk, can't warn my buddies.
Marshaling strength I have broken my hand cuffs"
He thinks with no thought other then freedom, jerks the tube from his throat,
FREE, I I can't breath, dying, trapped, medic!
He thinks, saved! oxygen, saved.
He thinks, regrouping, have to escape. Under fire. Keep your head down. Taking fire. Grenade!
They got me. captured. Truth serum. Can't Can't fight no more delirium.
Name, Rank and Serial .... slurrr
Taking punches. I'm here, kind of... delirium... I hear fellow prisoners, “get out I tell them get out... Resist.”
It's futile - unconscious.
I would be driving down main street all heads turning
a fast mover...
Roarrrr
He thinks, "My buddies... they are saving me. Carrying me away from the enemy. Close call. Out of the cave. Hope they damaged those guys. Weak ... drifting... sleep.”
He thinks, "Safe for now."
Whew close call, re-group... just cant move. Tired beyond tired.
Nursing me back still stuck in the valley.
he thinks "Dorothy, I call her name... guide me."
my strength returns slowly, heart beating.
Again my fellow soldiers, rescue me. Drag me to a field hospital. More nurses strength sleep.
Racing down main street in my fast mover...
All heads turn.
He thinks, they sent me back to a real hospital. Walls and toilets come into focus. I must be out of the valley. I see Dorothy - "Hi."
Dorothy - "Hi" back
and kids...
they get me up on my feet... so tired
they make me walk.
hand me a walker
and teeth
and hearing aids
and glasses
I walk slowly
One step at a time
tired,
sit,
sleep
need help to move, anything.
the sun rises... they hand me my
teeth
my hearing aides
my glasses
my breathing toy
every morning a routine, draw blood...
Me, I get my slow mover ready for the day
One step... another.
I got my slow mover
who needs a fast car.
I got my slow mover... still... my dad.
by Stephen Shooster
Once upon a time
I wanted a roaring engine
with red and whites stripes
a fast mover
I would roll down the main street
revving my engine at a stoplight
all heads would turn
a fast mover.
Then one day
My dad finds out
he has ticking time bomb in his chest
A weakness in the artery.
within a week my world is upside down
finding my mom and brothers playing Scrabble in the ICU waiting room
While my dad fights for his life.
I let my mom win every time,
to lighten her spirits. (and because she's way better then me)
with a tube in his throat
and heart exposed
Body cooled down.
We laugh irreverently, nervously, but full belly laughs.
We only held hope in our thoughts, no other choice.
Finally 8 hours later... alive.... repaired.
Thinking back all I wanted was a fast mover.
Now for my dad the only way back.... is through the chasm. The only way back to our world for him was through the deep valley. Being tested by 1,000 challenges.
Bang... Restart the heart
stitch by stitch
Thwack Thwack Staples in the chest.
Stitch by loving stitch, pronto.
Rolling down the cavern into the cave
its dark, he cant see a thing...
(the cave is the ICU the first step after surgery, no windows, lots of attention)
He hears noise. A subway assault.
He thinks, "Who is breathing for me?"
Lights flash drip, drip
He thinks, "The enemy must have me tied down."
Kick nothing... no energy... sleep.
The only way back is through the chasm.
Bang, awake again. Can't talk. (Drugs manage the patient a little of this and your awake, that your asleep)
Haze, noise.
He thinks, "Who am I? Who is he?
the robot in him responds.
He thinks. "I must be captured."
Rest, torture, rest.
Hands flail, he thinks "I must escape. can't talk, can't warn my buddies.
Marshaling strength I have broken my hand cuffs"
He thinks with no thought other then freedom, jerks the tube from his throat,
FREE, I I can't breath, dying, trapped, medic!
He thinks, saved! oxygen, saved.
He thinks, regrouping, have to escape. Under fire. Keep your head down. Taking fire. Grenade!
They got me. captured. Truth serum. Can't Can't fight no more delirium.
Name, Rank and Serial .... slurrr
Taking punches. I'm here, kind of... delirium... I hear fellow prisoners, “get out I tell them get out... Resist.”
It's futile - unconscious.
I would be driving down main street all heads turning
a fast mover...
Roarrrr
He thinks, "My buddies... they are saving me. Carrying me away from the enemy. Close call. Out of the cave. Hope they damaged those guys. Weak ... drifting... sleep.”
He thinks, "Safe for now."
Whew close call, re-group... just cant move. Tired beyond tired.
Nursing me back still stuck in the valley.
he thinks "Dorothy, I call her name... guide me."
my strength returns slowly, heart beating.
Again my fellow soldiers, rescue me. Drag me to a field hospital. More nurses strength sleep.
Racing down main street in my fast mover...
All heads turn.
He thinks, they sent me back to a real hospital. Walls and toilets come into focus. I must be out of the valley. I see Dorothy - "Hi."
Dorothy - "Hi" back
and kids...
they get me up on my feet... so tired
they make me walk.
hand me a walker
and teeth
and hearing aids
and glasses
I walk slowly
One step at a time
tired,
sit,
sleep
need help to move, anything.
the sun rises... they hand me my
teeth
my hearing aides
my glasses
my breathing toy
every morning a routine, draw blood...
Me, I get my slow mover ready for the day
One step... another.
I got my slow mover
who needs a fast car.
I got my slow mover... still... my dad.