#frailty
When I was small,
your hand held mine,
in a father’s grip,
both firm and kind.
I’d look up in awe
at your towering frame,
your proud stance unwavering.
I'd like to think that I was a good girl
who obeyed the rules,
because your voice was profound,
grounding my feet
onto the solid ground.
Through my childhood,
long HGV trips were the norm,
and I listened for the latch
on the garden gate,
as I waited patiently
for your return.
I remember how you were
so regimented and set in your ways,
but your love shone through
in those distant days.
I felt relief as years passed,
your strict edges softened,
into acceptance at last.
Now time’s cogs have turned,
our roles have reversed,
and life writes for us
in a different verse.
Once you strode
with a confident pace,
but a Zimmer frame
now takes that place.
Your hands, once strong,
are fragile and sore,
stiffened by time,
yet still they endure.
I see the warrior’s spirit
that still burns inside you,
as cancer battles loom,
you strive to push through.
Where once you led
with a mighty stride,
it is now my turn
to care and guide.
My strength is yours
as we walk a little slower these days
with me still by your side.
©️Lizzie Bevis
Jun 19, 2025
Jun 19, 2025 at 7:49 PM UTC
The heart of a writer is frail, like that of a flower waiting to be plucked. Life itself, or love, could uproot it, for no rhyme or reason.
I hate to say that my heart has been salted by the woes of man.
This never-ending race has left me wanting for watering.
Hang my heart on your wall with the others to dry out, my love.
I'm tired and weary—I need rest.
Mar 22, 2025
Mar 22, 2025 at 2:10 AM UTC
Soul, don't slip through that windpipe
Soul, hang on even if it be on thorns
Though you bleed to find tomorrow
Angels, fledge his soul from the wind
For wind flies the wingless
Scatters seeds of men
Shakes marrows of old
When time draws close
Feathers on the quill sway
Feel of hair on the heads numb
and the bald heads run cold
Colored spots in eyes cloud
For wind flies the wingless
Shakes off hands of clocks
Skins crease to dry dates
You dither you wither
Then you realize
Those myths
are true stories, that grew weak
14th December 2023
Dec 14, 2023
Dec 14, 2023 at 12:05 PM UTC
in moonlight whispers love fills my heart
and glass with wine, and magnifies
my soul to tenderness.
the biting, scraping, lustful pining
for distant and abhorrent truth
is solace in place of reality.
a reality where we address the trauma
of unkind childhoods, bloodied knees,
and chipped teeth.
misunderstandings that follow the gap
in a shortness of breath before an apology.
that remind you that your thoughts
can only love if you do.
and years later you will have some drunken
outpour that darkens the moonlight
and comfort, but makes way
to some otherworldly dawn beyond
the you that reads this now.
Jul 25, 2023
Jul 25, 2023 at 5:10 AM UTC
Back then you were
Happy, thankful, content
A year later
Broken, wailing and spent
A month later
Hopeful, nervous and sad
A week later
It's the worst that you've ever had
A day later
You're healing and turning to friends
An hour later
Treading barefoot in the sand
A minute later
't was never so easy to love
A second later
Your heart's being taken apart...
What will happen,
we never know from the start.
Aug 15, 2021
Aug 15, 2021 at 1:46 PM UTC
Sitting by his bedside
Consulting with the Fates
Will this be his time to go?
To rattle Pearly Gates?
He seems to be so fragile
And yet the spirit’s there!
Disguised by sagging jowls
And age spots, hiding in grey hair.
The afterlife has been discussed
He’s scoffed at it and said
What do I care? Burned or buried?
I’ll be dead!
I watch him in his frailty
Yet strong-willed as can be
He clings to life with stubbornness,
Blessed mortality!
Neither of us ready
To speak of things to come
We focus on the monitors,
The air vents’ harmless hum.
The ordering of breakfast
And peeing in a cup,
The trolley and it’s offerings
Upon which we both sup.
The future is unknown now
So we resign to be
Contented in the moment and
Embrace the mystery.
The choice is not for us to make
whatever we believe
So quiet words of love are whispered
With our hearts on sleeve.
Waiting now is our new game,
Though we, the pawns and Kings
Pronounce that it ain’t over
‘Til that fat lady sings!
Aug 5, 2020
Aug 5, 2020 at 11:10 AM UTC
Cold and callous he approaches
as the night falls.
He’ll conquer this vast kingdom
as darkness calls.
You can run
but he’ll catch up,
try to hide
and he’ll find out
or stand up to fight:
you’d lose your light
in the black midnight.
There’ll be no mercy when he comes.
Bend down, surrender!
Of all your kingdoms
He’ll be the ender.
Though this fierce knight has a frail side
one he desperately tries to hide:
a heart made of stone and cold
that can’t be touched nor consoled.
May 14, 2020
May 14, 2020 at 7:49 PM UTC
Being ill is, above all
a sensual thing.
Being reminded of your own mortality,
like never before,
of the reflexes that died in my womb.
It was a dreadful lesson that I've learnt.
I tended to my body
like a lover,
promising in blind faith
that all will be well.
Such luxurious peace—
It was very much like getting possessed, you know
Becoming painfully aware of nothing
but yourself crooked in a crouch
is the only way to stand,
for it is too laborious even to stand straight.
And the noise,
the constant thumping of the heart.
pulsations bleeching
too much, too loud.
What do I know of health before this?
Now it begs my attention like a serpent's hiss.
Dissolving all but sense and solitude,
gripping
me into the lore of pure consciousness.
Like a true predator,
languishing
over yet another sleepless night.
Mar 20, 2020
Mar 20, 2020 at 11:56 AM UTC
The system failed
I burnt my house
I seem so frail
As small as mouse
The ashes scatter
All around
It doesn't matter
I'm now unbound
Sep 20, 2019
Sep 20, 2019 at 5:21 PM UTC
They are mostly elderly, frail, ghostly pale, lying there in their beds, comatose. Drugged out of their heads on painkilling meds, rarely with their mouths closed, though many with their teeth close. Tubes in their nose or oxygen masks for those for whom breathing has become too much of a task, I suppose. Totally oblivious to all those of us who have chosen to visit, just to be close. Lost in a world of their own, fighting battles unknown to most of us.
Aug 13, 2019
Aug 13, 2019 at 6:53 AM UTC
This, the generation
Of the Trampling Bull,
The trodding of the Crop,
The headlong raging run,
With never any stop.
Having pulled the stakes,
Dragging tethers;
Pawing unchecked,
Throwing clods above his withers;
Fence posts falling,
The corners cave.
Town boys chase him
With sticks,
Unable to check or to drive
His rampant run,
O'er suffering fields.
Where are the men
Who'll come to force him,
Bellowing,
Back into civility?
Where are the men?
Jun 12, 2019
Jun 12, 2019 at 8:41 PM UTC
This feeling is
bigger than me.
I don’t hold the key,
To change the
way I want to be,
Constantly looking
at society,
Hoping things will change
but I wake up the next day
Feeling the same.
Looking in the mirror,
See a person
that I don’t wanna see.
A person with anxiety.
A shrunken soul
looking for a way
out of this hole
Hoping things will change,
but I wake up the next day,
Feeling the same.
I lie in bed
Alone.
Feeling like I want a clone.
Just to have someone like me
Someone with anxiety
Someone with more problems
than me.
Hoping things will change,
but I wake up the next day,
Feeling the same.
I imagine being lost at sea
Where a mirage will hold the key
To a new land
where no one knows my name
but someone will hold my hand.
Help me realise the answer
lies within me.
Help me realise I hold the key.
Mar 10, 2019
Mar 10, 2019 at 8:28 PM UTC
How can I be better
When I wasn't even good,
To begin with?
How can I not lie,
When it makes me real
When it gives me direction
I know there is a truth in fear
It plays the fiddle for guilt
When faced with it
Your body bets on red
You ignoring it
Doesn't make it go away
It's all turned to **** anyway
Maybe I'll die not even trying
To **** myself
I'll be ash and you'll be grey
What's the difference
Is all you'll say
Jul 12, 2018
Jul 12, 2018 at 6:22 AM UTC
In your eyes
I can see both courage and frailty
And I just wonder what'd you show when I'd expect you to fight for our love
Will you be my knight in shining armour
Or will you let me down like you always have
Apr 7, 2018
Apr 7, 2018 at 1:37 AM UTC
as flowers blossom
humanities frailty cleansed
peace in our lifetime
Dec 30, 2017
Dec 30, 2017 at 10:02 AM UTC
What do you want from me?
I’ve given all my flesh.
What more can you desire?
I’ve nothing left…
I quit.
Surrender to your power.
Celebrate upon my broken sole,
for I’ve nothing left this hour.
I can’t bear the indecency,
to look upon your face.
You thieving ******* who,
takes life and leaves no trace.
Laugh…
at my complete defeat.
Scoff…
as I as I repeat.
My failures,
you’ve taught me so well,
and completely surrender,
to forever fail.
At being real.
Feb 17, 2017
Feb 17, 2017 at 11:51 PM UTC
The man gets old,
as he has been told.
The woman is older still, and though looking so young,
She is in pain a lot and knows that.
The man is just an old, silly linguist, not even real
Just a computational linguist.
The woman is a sexto-grammarian and an expert and teacher,
She loves it, and still teaches people everything.
And although their love is unquestionably strong and true,
Their time together is all too short,
Their all too short "conjugal visits" are
More about "conjugation" than anything else.
Apr 10, 2016
Apr 10, 2016 at 6:53 PM UTC
I rang the door bell as I step in the front of the door,
And gaze upon my work iPad to check for work order notations.
As I scroll upon the repair ticket,
there was bold letters,
And it read "ATTENTION Technician,
be patient with the customer,
She went through medical procedure!"
I hear a faint female voice from afar end of her house,
stating she was coming!
Inhaled dawning air with chill in my lung
While exhaled steam and vapor from my lips!
Never knew waiting per minute can feel like eternality,
And my surrounding became more intensified with movement of breeze!
After waiting for 5 minutes,
finally the door opened,
And the lady was in her robes,
But had her hair done and make up on.
Customer then asked me where was the original installer,
And she specifically asked for his return.
She spoke with few pauses,
And slight fragmented sentences,
Then proceed to tells me she had a stroke,
And plead that I would be patient with her!
Already I wasn't her expected technician,
And I knew I had a large shoe to fill with her disdain,
While dealing with her medical situation!
As I started my trouble shooting processes,
I asked for more information,
And explore the cause of system failure!
Knowing I needed to give her comfort during her dialogue,
I gave her my nods,
and listen to her intently.
While trying to get to the point,
But spoke less to avoid confusing her.
Until I can drop her guards,
And have a normal conversation during repair process,
So there wouldn't be awkward pauses!
Slowly but surely she began to tell me little bit about herself,
How she met husband from her friends,
And she was originally from Sri Lanka.
How lonely she gets in Kentucky not having real friends,
And in my mind I could only related to her circumstance,
But I over came it by finding my inner peace,
Which is finding a home in the present moments.
Knowing the struggle to understand what it meant to be a nationalist,
Or assimilating into American culture,
I began by asking her where is her comfort zone,
Or who makes her comfortable?
She tells me her husband,
and how much she loved him.
So then your husband is your home I told her,
And I let her know home isn't a four wall with a roof,
But it is a moment in present giving her comfort of a home.
at this moment,
my thought process became like a cat,
And like a cat my curiosity needed to be quenched.
I asked how she got the stroke.
There was a holding breathe from her,
And then her emotions erupted.
"I have a brain tumor" she tells me,
Accelerated by her cancer.
I don't know how long of a time I have left,
And her uncertainty of her life made her more afraid.
There was a desperateness in her tears.
I wanted to give her a hug,
And give some relief from her anguish.
In that moment of her desperation,
My training from senior housing kicked in.
Changed my subject back to her comfort zone!
"Please, tell me more about your husband I asked,
How did you two meet?"
She starts to get her composure back,
And wipes her tears.
As she spoke I see glistening of her eyes,
And she spoke with love.
After I finished with my repair
and heading out of the customer's house!
The lady thanked me
and then told me she wanted to tell her husband about home!
I gave her my smile,
Then lightly tapped on my chest with my palm,
then moved my hand onto my head.
Reminder to her,
home is in your heart and mind!
Nov 3, 2015
Nov 3, 2015 at 11:48 PM UTC
She feels her frailties
Gnawing at one another
Believing that's the escape
From the somber vessel in which they've been trapped
The vessel that constantly strives to set them ablaze
Yearning to free herself
Of these blemishes that keep coming back to haunt her
As if they never really left -
As if they've always just been watching -
From under the bed
Or through the window
Tormenting her with their eyes
That seem darker than the hollows around hers
Feb 17, 2015
Feb 17, 2015 at 2:21 AM UTC
*Round and round, it wouldn't even matter
Go catch monkey's bars, like the beast you are yourself
Tragedy is that you will never be able to look at light
With your frail eyes and flaccid heart
I purge, I clease
Away with the torment of calling myself a fool
Your fool-
Don't you remember what shakles are?
There's a vacuum in your mind-
Is this not true?
Swim in the ale that consumes your youth;
You won't know tomorrow, anyway.*
Sep 30, 2014
Sep 30, 2014 at 12:52 AM UTC
Be wary of me
My friend of frailty,
Because we see love
In different shades and
Express it in diverging ways.
I admit:
I'm a ****
I don't way my words and
My actions are driven by
Impulsion and confusion.
My biggest fear is that one day
We would break
Or rather,
I would break
You.
I don't know how to say what I mean;
I can never fathom what you really feel.
My laughter may be hurtful daggers;
My silence may sound like crashing thunders.
Can your bones stand my embrace?
Can you hear me whispering
The things I'm too shy to say?
Truth be told:
I love you
But
Save your heart
And save my dignity.
Darling,
I think you should
Stay away from me.
Aug 16, 2014
Aug 16, 2014 at 10:40 AM UTC