Helpless

Wanting desperately to help...but I don't know how

 

Helpless

A friend is in pain and I can do nothing

Tears flow of indecision…straining life, staining life

My heart breaks in two…then shatters on the salted dreamscape floor

Coming out of my own skin, ripping the stitches, molting along hollow tree branches

Miles between, so many miles, so much time falls from grace

Breathing is hard, tethered at the moments lost, the suffering imagined

Pacing the floor…finding worn carpet and hidden questions beneath a shallow basement

Wishing the words, those damn words, feeding the solution…would come

Hoping for anything, something, even the tiniest of splintering compassion I can offer

To help ease this weight resting squarely on the shoulders of the weakness that engulfs her

I have no answers, useless, like a block of wood in the offering plate on a Tuesday night

My mind is a vacant lot of empty parking spaces…handicapped and no hang tag

My eyes blur of forced darkness amidst the crowing raven circling overhead

I pound my fist into this meaningless existence breaking every bone of contention

Drowning in my own fear, treading water beneath the surface

Clenching my teeth in a vice like fashion

A friend is in pain and I can do nothing

Helpless

Author's Note

Thank you for reading

Reviews

[Emily B]

you did the best thing you could possibly do, you noticed

if passion comes from a root that means to suffer, then compassion must mean that we should suffer with

[Jack...]

Thank you so much.

[Marie Anzalone]

I have a quote on my desk from teh Dalai lama, where he says that the "willingness to share in another's pain is compassion, while the desire to share your own joy, is love"

[Angel]

Such heart felt compassion pulsing through this piece. Sometimes that compassion is the very best we can offer to a friend in pain. Sometimes it is enough just to know that someone understands.
Sometimes, my tender hearted friend...sometimes there just isn't any "fix".
Very tender, very beautiful write, my friend.
You have once again touched my heart.

[Jack...]

Thanks so much my good friend. Helpless is a pain I wish I never had to feel.

[Angel]

Oh, Honey...I am a mother and a grandmother...helpless is a pain I am well acquainted with.
I honestly do understand.

[Angel]

I'm not the least bit surprised to see you won first place with this one. Congratulations, my friend...this piece deserved the win...
and without 'flash mob' reviews, either!!
;-D

[Jack...]

Thanks so much Angel. I know, flash mobs, funny. Why can't they just get together and dance like they used to? :)>

[Angel]

I dunno. It seems like such a lot of hassle, just to get your poem at the top of the list for a few minutes...God help me, what would they be like in an actual publisher's office!! There would be bloodshed!!!
AAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!

[Jack...]

Boy, you can say that again. What a thought.

[Angel]

I am profoundly sorry that I thought it.
Thank God my stuff draws such a limited audience...I don't have to worry about "flash mobs"...I...erm...hope...
BTW, are you a bit behind on your rrs, my friend? Nudge, nudge...

[Jack...]

No I don't think so. I do have a big pile since being on vacatuion, but I thought I checked them all to see if certain people were there, but I will check again.

[Angel]

I could have sworn I sent you a couple...ahh, well, I shall fold my wings and wait on thee...

[Zelle]

it is a sad reality.. a painful verse, amazingly written!

[Jack...]

Thank you so much.

[Gloria]

This is beautiful in a painful way, but beautiful none the less.

[Jack...]

Thank you so much

[Girl Friday (Sarah W.)]

So sad...I have been in this place before. Personally, I think "helplessness" is probably the most intolerable feeling on earth. If it were possible, I would heal all the broken hearts in the world, but sadly...it is not. A touching write, indeed.

[Jack...]

Thank you so much my friend.

[s y e]

Ha, this made me teary, Jack. It really touched me as sometimes I feel like that. I think we all do at some point but wow, it really did touch me. Your heart was on this page, my friend. It's really painful watching your friends or family in pain but through the tough times they need you to be there. A heart felt piece.

~ Noodle.

[Jack...]

Thank you

[TL Boehm]

Never discount the help that comes in someone else knowing - simply knowing that there is a struggle. Guys like to fix things - its hard wired - but sometimes it is enough that we are heard. That our pain is heard/felt/understood - even if it can't be fixed. I'm rambling but sometimes a poem illicits a review and sometimes a response bubbles up.
have no answers, useless, like a block of wood in the offering plate on a Tuesday night
My mind is a vacant lot of empty parking spaces…handicapped and no hang tag
that right there. that is profound.

[Jack...]

Thank you so much Tammy. You are right, guys are like that.

[Zahra]

I am really sorry, this is really painful watching your dear ones in pain. But our unconditional support and care for them can help them passing through tough times. Very deeply felt piece.

[Jack...]

Thank you so much Zahra. Your words mean a lot to me.

[Zahra]

You're welcome, my friend!

[Sami Khalil]

"Pacing the floor…finding worn carpet and hidden questions beneath a shallow basement

Wishing the words, those damn words, feeding the solution…would come

Hoping for anything, something, even the tiniest of splintering compassion I can offer"
Wow. I feel the raw emotions in this one Jack like a last plea of sorts . But sometimes they come around and tothers they can't for so many reasons . All we can do is support them or love them and they have to make their decisions but it is all in the right time and moment of truth when they realize the immense love and caring . I hope your words echo on listening ears and a willing heart...:)

[Jack...]

Thanks so much Sami. Hopefully they will, hopefully they will help.

[Sami Khalil]

You are right and welcome...:)