Reaching out for help - and failing
I'm Sorry...
??
I’m sorry to hear about that
She posted about her sick aunt
Dying really
She hinted at that aspect
But wasn’t it already obvious?
‘I’m sorry to hear about that’
They said
Sad face emoji
She stared at her phone
And it’s comments
And felt suddenly and overwhelmingly,
empty.
He texted his ex
Again
In a variation of detail
About his physiological problems
Brought about by real life obstacles
Or were they just the catalyst
For the exaggerated stress
He was enduring?
He knew
As did she
That it was long standing issues
That had brought him to this juncture
Almost to his knees
And that’s what he didn’t want
To be ground to a halt
Nervous breakdown
Or whatever the modern term was.
‘I’m sorry to hear about that’
She wrote
He went on some more
But quickly understood the futility
His pleas and requests
Fell on not deaf ears
As she had heard him just fine.
He was on his own
And had no idea
How to make any of it better
He’d never felt more alone in his life.
Sorry
Not Sorry.
‘R U Ok’
No, I’m not
But what will you do about it?
What will anyone do?
‘You need to get some help
Have you seen a doctor?’
It’s the first port of call
Doctors come long before
Confession to a friend
Pills come long before
Public admittance
Battles are fought
Long before fragments of defeat
Are admitted.
‘I’m sorry about that’
Makes them feel better
Do they really care?
What can they do anyway?
Sometimes, plenty
Simple practical steps
Take part of the life load off
Offer to pick up a chore
Insist on a personal visit
Something
If only a small amount
Rather than buzzwords
Spewed out like an auto-correct response.
‘I’m sorry to hear about that
Now, where was I?’
© ajl 2019
This is the last in this series. This poem and 9 others are available as a pdf right here for download, called All Empires Crumble. All are from 2019.
art: exsomnis by m_tau
Thank you to M. Tau for permission to use these specific visuals in this series.
See her profile at DeviantArt
