The Moving Target
“Don’t make any
exaggerated movements”
my neurologist said
But I see what needs straightening
and feel the fear of disappearing
It could be said
that to be in constant motion
is to be a moving target
and being still is a sitting duck
I don’t look down or up
I walk a crooked path
I hold the guardrails
of a swinging rope bridge
and balance a lifetime
on my head
And when I sit
I’m careful not to drop it
I tap my foot
like a morse code secret
like a heartbeat keeps time
and a life leaves a sign
I make note of the landmarks
and count myself alive
______Colleen Redman / dVerse Poets Pub / Poets and Storytellers
November 22nd, 2024 1:09 am
A moving target or a sitting duck? A grim choice by the sound of it.
November 22nd, 2024 1:45 am
‘Old age is not for sissies,’ someone said. Personally I have succumbed to a wheely walker when I’m out and about. I resisted for a year and now I wonder why. I love the freedom and agility it gives me! Indoors, I don’t need it, having flat floors and plenty of things to hang onto.
I relate very much to everything you say, as well as the finesse with which you say it (no missteps there!) and I particularly love the idea of balancing a lifetime on your head, like a book.
November 22nd, 2024 3:47 am
I can see the challenge faced between those two difficult options. But the poem is so brilliantly written..very very much alive.
November 22nd, 2024 8:45 am
“I hold the guardrails
of a swinging rope bridge
and balance a lifetime
on my head”
It can be difficult to keep one’s balance (especially in these times).
Such a well-crafted poem!
November 22nd, 2024 2:21 pm
The balancing act is trickier the older we get, but I think of my friends who didn’t get the chance to do so. Then I don’t mind it quite so much.
November 22nd, 2024 6:43 pm
This poem is many things ~~ frightening, hopeful, deep, relatable, and most of all beautifully composed.
November 22nd, 2024 6:58 pm
I can relate to holding the guardrails, and balancing a lifetime on my head…it can get scary. Getting older is not fun sometimes when your body starts to let you down. An eloquent poem.
November 23rd, 2024 10:15 am
The sense of always having to move seems to me like we are always close to peril… finding comfort in a safe spot is important.
November 23rd, 2024 10:54 am
Real and insightful. I especially like the description of balancing a lifetime on our head. It sure feels like that sometimes.
November 24th, 2024 5:32 am
Physical balance declines with age for sure and mine is not helped by an accident many years ago, but your wonderful metaphorical balancing of a lifetime on your head is the real challenge, Colleen…
November 29th, 2024 2:17 pm
We do balance a lifetime on our heads. Physical balance is difficult for me since the knee replacement, and my right hip is going. I’m just tired of surgeries. I like the tone of this poem.