Be patient

many patients
aren’t patient
if there’s waiting to be done
take your turn at

patience
nurses can’t give
everyone time
undivided

the vale of years turns
take turns to be patient, wiser
the main answer
what wound healed but by

patience visits
sits quiet with my own thoughts
I call myself
a quiet person

was a dressmaker
if a stitch went wrong
I set it right
in two words, two small words

Margaret Hargreaves

October 2009

my message is to you

hope is your life
together we
hope
each looks after each
friendly nurses speak
look for
hope is swift exchange
my tablets my routine
hope for this
take pills like new ideas

swallow
hope
I listen to children’s advice
swallow’s wings
get on with life’s hour
accept
strokes hearts bowels propaganda
each other
what journey you’re facing
and what hope

do you get?
(would you like to join our discussion?)
everyone’s lonely in their own
true journey
hope is swift
can’t take it out
can’t shove it away
we’re all
in the end
swallow’s wings.

Group
Cherry Tree
2009

O lovely walls

seven months sorrow
been seven months
(o lovely walls!) its been hectic
times seven

nurses change the speed

lively nurses
change beds, lives
coming to you bones groan
brain on top spine down the back
I don’t have time for please

change the speed of the day

doing you good
change your window speed
good-doers do-gooders
throw your body puking
sorrow eat my body

nurses change please

anonymous
Stepping Hill
2008

Coming into

Coming into hospital for the fifth time

coming into hospital for the fifth

hate to think of so many times

it’s a desperate thought

I don’t want to think it

get on and forget sadness

get on with it and remember only the

forget

who you’ve been with

where you’ve been you’re not yourself

I’m so glad that they come

I’m so glad that they come

I can’t say how often but they do

it’s action for yourself

to see someone

to see some with the same

perhaps the same difficulties

you are not alone

there are many people like you for better or worse

there are many people who like you

good people there are many

friends of myself friends of I

saw

my place

sat in my chair

saw my place sat in my chair

I can see so much from here

I wish

good

I can see I can hear.

Mary Arrandale

Stepping Hill Hospital

grit

you first come in you’re sick and that slows you can’t be mithered grit me teeth and bear it grit me teeth and keep me head down

called up 1939 went to France Dunkirk had a bad time a bad time

driven to distraction by all the waste of time getting angry doesn’t help you got to somehow slip into a lower gear get through these long days

in a truck for cover

get up when the nurses start clattering early habit of a lifetime bed late after the noise of the medicine the nurses overworking I’m surprised how cheerful they keep

tried to get in the little boat trousers round my neck and the trousers floated away

if you’ve got a decent book get what exercise you can push this wheelchair up and down

people fighting to get on the boat

that’s one thing I never do – give in

and keep a smile on the faces of the nurses

you’ve got to make your pleasure – is there anything that pleases me? - yes everything - grit me teeth and grin

E Wooley
2008

blanket

I don’t search for pain the grey coarse scientific term dark grey someone else’s pain tufts caught on barbed fences teasing out I wrap myself when I’m cold when it rains the intensity I don’t go searching for pain but as they say its part of life’s richness a fleece that wraps me chemical relief the easement these days the first thing is pills Id rather have a couple of whiskies and a blanket

warmth is part of the healing the most important part the first thing I do is give a hug and a kiss its comfort it has the right texture right feel a woollen blanket in marvellous bed can’t be improved upon I don’t search for pain a cup of tea and a dance what is better than that (a ginormous umbrella) a laugh so don’t worry I never do that’s the vocation

E Wooley and “Wilf”

2007

This poem is part of the Patience project, for more information please visit http://patience-project.blogspot.com/

Constancy

hospital

a huge mountain between my

heart and tongue

ill-starred

not important

rubbish

brought here and left

a mountain

if I could pray

prayers would move me

***

been in

(not quite sure, a long time in the firmament)

fed up with constancy

don’t get attention

manage alright at home

it’s not doing me good

and it should

shouldn’t it?

***

some people like being bossed

I have

a man’s will/a woman’s might

must

be careful not

to annoy

to get fed up

fixed and resting

submitting to the saintly routine

***

Fellows in the Firmament!

it is up to you to get right

down to you, getting better

(***

certainly is

***)

to be helpful with those helping you

determination will make a difference

to be very patient

is a difficult art

you’re not born such

constantly

learning

you get old

as the northern star.

Anonymous
11 September 2009


This poem is part of the Patience project, for more information please visit http://patience-project.blogspot.com/

The inner part

in last week and three weeks before

bowel trouble

(nice)

test me kidneys

mind going round

which is what and what is

ignorance last week and three before

toboggans into bowel trouble

embarrassment

that you need

to tell them inner

things

(nice)

ungrateful bowels

heart and me blood test

results

unconvinced

test me test me trudges up

mind going round to ignorance again

anonymous 8th July 2009

This poem is part of the Patience project, for more information please visit http://patience-project.blogspot.com/

Starcrossd

what time is it?

it is she may ring by every star

she may not forever now

*

at home rather know

than feel and fell

pain it’s getting better

lovers tell

*

my daughter may ring

waiting home and fell waiting

*

someone came to me

saw me when

I fell

*

waiting for my daughter

what time is it?

it is she may ring by every star

she may not forever now


Anon
8 July 2009

This poem is part of the Patience project, for more information please visit http://patience-project.blogspot.com/

my eyes they view the afternoon (part 2)

The living day

my eyes they view the afternoon

but when I sleep the floor

try to get up my way

the image shouts

where am I going?

I woke through heavy sleep

in hospital my rest defeat

shadow’s form to ask

everything against your nature

Lynn Holt 1^st July 2009


This poem is part of the Patience project, for more information please visit http://patience-project.blogspot.com/

Gammy leg

started out cellulitis

like a rash creams and lotions managed

but you know how it goes

down the leg

on the foot

then they wanted to meet

can’t remember Christmas

my leg

could sit here and cry for eternity

wouldn’t put my leg back

occasionally I forget

roundabouts

going longer between spaces

I have phantom pains

like an itch a weird sensation

I want to scratch my foot

the foot’s not there

try to master mind over matter

can’t scratch phantom pains

sometimes it works

sometimes I still forget

Anonymous 8th July 2009

This poem is part of the Patience project, for more information please visit http://patience-project.blogspot.com/

Debilitated

crying
with frustration
why
don't you listen?

pain:
why d'you do this?
sometimes
cry with clenches

get up
from your wheelchair
scream
God-forgotten prayers.



Jean Cheatham
1st July 2009

Come back come back come back

walking:

a simple question

put it this way

once you’re in these places

they expect you to stay

til you’re better

my own children took to walking straightway

my wife in hospital expecting a child

I walked there four times that day

morning, afternoon, evening

must’ve done 40 miles

now you can’t say I’ve been a lazy person so

far as walking is concerned

put it this way

what changes is you

are seeing four walls day in

out

came here with expectations

put in here, I plunged

to where I am

now

walking:

a simple question, a simple answer

me, wheelchair

lets put it again this way

opportunity is a fine thing

a fine thing is opportunity

a pint and a half of beer a day

my doctor recommended

recommended a little village green

fields, the pub, a walk

dig the allotment

active all my life’s apprenticeship

(walking in the wood at night

by the river way

it’d make a noise like:

come back come back come back

sandpipers

on the side

oh god aye

comes to life that does)

put in here and I’m idle, a passed buck

explain that to me straight

a straight punch

tell the doctors

they will be treated in their late life

like this.

Thomas Weston

31 July 2009

Mary/Margaret

illness is change
chance
not accepting
a throw of the dice
I’m OK/you're OK
I'm going to live
you too
will not abolish illness
don’t fight
allow it in
be alright here
they’re looking after heaven's latchkey
looking after all the time
a paradise
will not abolish
see them everyday
angels
angelas
feel looked
down up/on
looked after
one of the most important things
I’m glad
Ive got
pair of dice, we
(mary margaret)
the wings to fly to heaven
well looked after
they’re doing their best
couldn’t wish a better
chance angel


Mary, Margaret
31st July 2009

the jargon

the jargon

terminology:
I’m registered blind
others like the words visually impaired
some prefer totally blind
the word blind is very final
people appear frightened of saying I’m blind
get embarrassed by words
but I’ve always faced it: blind
blind
blind
it’s not written on the face, but its part of life
there are occasions when trauma gets you
an old lady shouting across the road
is he blind?
people asking questions about you, talking over you
(I’m bloody blind, not deaf)
I can see a little, but not much
blurred, mist

a
word between
blind and stone blind
we’re all different love
you haven’t enough paper to write it all
everyone has individuality
if you term yourself disabled
people label you
disabled to the average person
means:
nasty terms, offensive
we are disabled by society
certain government departments
things done down on Mercy Street
(more people are kind
than obnoxious)

visually impaired
a catch-all
some boys came and kicked
the stick out of my hand and said
now go look for it
unacceptable words
not-PC
spastic mongol
it’s always interested me, the words
I am totally blind and
a spade’s a spade
an indicator cane
a symbol cane
a guide cane
a long cane
measure it from your foot to your breastbone
tap to either side or sweep
don’t trip your guide up
a cane with red and white stripes will tell you
the person carrying it is
blind and deaf
too

each one of us around this table
has our own opinion
was blind but now I see
blindness is used as a metaphor
glare and brightness
tinted glasses
the problem with language altogether
is the idea that language can describe perfectly
it’s merely pointing at some idea
just as blindness means absence of light
and darkness is scary
language is a difficult thing
and you are not being 100 percent scientific
when you use
blind
the harbinger
of terrible things
blind beggar pew always bringing
the black spot
language

born blind
I went to the sunshine homes
went to boarding schools for the blind
I’m one of the few who can read Braille
colours mix with words for me
anger with red traffic lights
biggest problem with vision is
it’s so personal you can’t describe
what you can see and what you can’t
I don’t get any older
in the shaving mirror

somedays
wake up, feel depressed
stop feeling sorry for yourself
see a pin drop
there’s always someone worse off
see them kiddies in hospital
go through a grieving
lost vision
lost independence
grieving
some go through it a long time
the bitter twist
it fills a void
we are all learning
talking heads
that’s what we do
loss of eyesight is a great leveller
all the
way round

how small my disability is:
blind from the foot
to the top of the breastbone

how much can you see?


speak poem
June 2009

Dante

Dante

I’m a patient in Stepping Hill
Where doctors are supposed to make you well
Unfortunately I have found
That it has been a source of hell.

Ray West
11 June 2009

no hassle medicine

two tranquillisers
that’s what they say they are
a no hassle medicine

put them in my mouth and swallow
swallow them and hope for the best

Gladys Hall
2008



This poem is part of the 'Patience' collection, for more information on this project please visit http://patience-project.blogspot.com/

Curtailed

curtailed
spring starts its inspiration
we are locked up in hospital
we are cooped up canaries in submarines
people go potty in submarines
lack of green

we are Birdman of Alcatraz
we are four square walls
looking out over the bay
watching others’ enjoyment
(me, I’m keen on the birds)

trees ring a hospital, an industrial estate
we are dead loss
green is the motivator to go
stifled in a wheelchair
raise your sight, your expectation

hides
behind
wrap us all in cotton wool
like the brontes we must
break out of the parsonage

we are pyjamas all day
we are institutional
lack of freedom to choose, lack of freedom
to choose - when you’ve lost choice
you’ve lost.


Raymond West
11 June 2009



Photo of Raymond West copyright Lois Blackburn. for more photos please visit http://www.flickr.com/photos/arthur-and-martha/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/arthur-and-martha/sets/72157607699825490/

Many thing

I know full well we’ll never leave this place
there’s a law in chemistry that says
you can never create or destroy matter, no matter
if they cremate or bury – your remains
will become part of the strata of the rains
and winds will blow you across
the face of the agnostic earth
you the atoms cannot be destroyed
will be here doubting Thomas for millions of years

perhaps we are all the figment of someone

don’t need to dig down if you
drop by a graveyard
the bacteria come up to become
more stars in the sky than there are
grains of sand in the
oceans are not burning
me it’s an overcoat for your spirit:
do I believe in anything, do
I believe in many things?

(I never go to bed ‘til I’ve said me prayers at night:
whisper that)

David Smith, Harry Wantling, Phyllis Hollinshead, Hilda Hewitt
2007

Recovery

RECOVERY
thistle in may

Take your medication strictly as prescribed

better than feeling ill: flowers
things to look forward to
snowdrops, daffodils dancing
meet your friends again, crocuses beginning
when a person starts to be well
trees take a spring interest
life’s worth living, the sky blooms lighter
altogether more day, always glad
when the February war is over
it wasn’t a bit charming summer’s on its way
in the distance

Continue with any exercises shown to you in hospital by therapists or medical staff

got rheumatism and going blind?
start to throw your woollies off
if there’s any snow left
throw welcome snowballs
keep getting well
english weather do your best
unreliable wet cold miserable
if winter’s here
spring cant be far behind
have to wait and see
‘what the hell’s happened to me?’
that rush towards the remember

Don't remove any dressings until instructed

it’s a slow process all the flowers
waking up caution restricts
the tulip field
no speed records broken
snowdrops the first
birds and buds
the worst thing is to rely on others
the trees blessing daffodils
the light, a relief
a relief (the darling)
it comes slowly
birds come alive, start taking notice
everything again tweeting the dawn
outside your window the spring marvels
trees flower views
springcleaning comes to mind at
the mere sight
passover the shade
the fantastic cobweb

If you are unsure of any factor relating to your convalescence, don't hesitate to contact your doctor

pour with light through the body
you squirm god I’m coming to life
the excitement: seize the sun
the sky-blue, the buttercups
bulbs looking for light
take your part in the human race

Attend all your check-ups

cut a thistle in may
the dancing season has started
fabulous is the word for it
lots of little flowers pink and jump
lamb pasture
cut it in june itll be back soon
blooms as big as cabbageheads

(Follow all dietary recommendations)

jump for joy after drear winter
get on with things
where are we
going?
it is so rewarding to fill a bare patch
with dancing.

speak poem
Feb 2009


Further info, from Better Health Channel website, Victorian Department of Human Services, Australia
During convalescence, it may be beneficial to set goals for each day which will aid in your recovery. Be guided by your doctor, but general suggestions include:

* Too much bed rest in most cases isn't good for you, particularly if you are elderly. Maintain some level of activity, even if it means just sitting or standing up occasionally. Try getting dressed and moving around the house if possible.
* Ensure your muscles, heart and lungs are working efficiently by gradually increasing your level of activity each day.
* Make sure you get enough rest. Listen to your body and alternate periods of activity with periods of relaxation. Be prepared to say 'no' to things you can't cope with and visitors you don't want to see.
*Keep in touch with family and friends and maintain your social activity, even by telephone.
* Eat a healthy diet that includes plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables. If your appetite is poor, try eating small amounts of nutritious foods regularly. Remember that eating well is more important than eating more.
* As your strength returns, find time to do things you enjoy. Keep up with hobbies and aim to get out of the house regularly, even for short outings.