Another poem, sorry

I don’t have anything particular to write at the moment, but read this poem last night and really liked it.  It’s also from Without by Donald Hall.

Air Shatters in the Car’s Small Room

 

Distracting myself

on the recliner between

Jane’s hospital bed

and window, in this blue

room where we endure,

I set syllables

into prosy lines.

William Butler Yeats

denounced with passion

“the poetry of

passive suffering.”

Friends and strangers

write letters speaking

of courage or strength.

What else could we do

except what we do?

Should we weep lying

flat?  We do.  Sometimes,

driving the Honda

with its windows closed

in beginning autumn

from the low motel

to Jane’s bed, I scream

and keep on screaming.

Poem

On second thought, this is a stanza from the poem “Her Long Illness” by Donald Hall.  This one has resonated with me the most so far. 

 

     He hovered beside Jane’s bed,

solicitous: “What can I do?”

     It must have been unbearable

while she suffered her private hurts

     to see his worried face

looming above her, always anxious to do

     something when there was

exactly nothing to do.  Inside him,

     some four-year-old

understood that if he was good — thoughtful,

     considerate, beyond

reproach, perfect — she would not leave him.

The sun is out this morning….

I felt a little better when I woke up this morning and saw blue sky (also I went to bed earlier than has been the norm for the last month, so that might have helped too).  Last night’s bath was nice, and watching Babette’s Feast was too.  Ryan was there all evening so I didn’t do much straightening up, but I’ve done a pretty damned good job of keeping the house clean lately.  It’s not spotless, but it’s SO MUCH BETTER than it could be.

So I have a counselling appointment tonight.  I’m nervous, but maybe a little bit excited.  Not very excited though.  But even if I don’t like her and don’t go back to see her, it will probably still be good for me.  I’m not very good at talking.  As much as I am dreading this, I cannot imagine how hard it must have been for Matt.  I really can’t.  I’ve come to realize over this last month (plus) that I really had no idea what Matt was feeling.  I knew that I didn’t have much of a clue and I would try and try to get him to open up and tell me.  Sometimes he would, most of the time he wouldn’t.  But even the times that he would open up…I just didn’t have any past experience that helped me in any way to understand what and how he was feeling.  I didn’t know.  I feel like I could have been more supportive if I had been able to understand more.  I know there’s nothing I really could have done about that, but it’s just another “what if.” 

All my regrets concerning Matt have to do with not being able to spend enough time with him.  I guess it could be worse.

This evening

I get off work in 30 minutes and have been trying to think of something that I can do tonight that will help me feel better.  I think I’m going to straighten up around the house, then take a bath (ahhhh), then put on Babette’s Feast and do some crafting and/or drawing.  Sounds like a pleasant-enough evening, eh?  It makes me sad that Matt won’t be around for any of it (except as he is inside of me, which I’m struggling to understand and actualize… I guess).  But he won’t be there, and I’ll be alright without him.  It hurts me to say so, but it’s the bittersweet truth.  (More bitter right now but the sweet will come, I’m trusting.)

In other news, I can cross my legs under my desk now.  And I can buckle my belt a notch tighter.  Talk about bittersweet.

Thanks to those of you who have upped the comments here – it makes me feel good to have feedback, even if it’s just one line. 

Monday, woo hoo!

There is some sarcasm in that subject line, BTW.

For that matter, there’s some sarcasm in that first line there.  But at any rate, it’s Monday, again, and I’m at work.  Again.  I never noticed what a drag this really is before.  Or rather, I did notice, but I always had something better to look forward to once I got home. 

The idea of trying to build a new life out of this is so daunting.  This is going to be the hardest thing that I have ever done.  I don’t like reaching out to people – it takes me way outside of my comfort zone.  I know that reaching out is good for you, blah blah blah…I guess I expect people to let me down on some level, and that’s probably at least one reason that I’m hesitant to reach out to new people (or even people I already kind of know).  Hell, Matt let me down.  I know he didn’t mean to and didn’t want to, but he still completely did.  But people will do that, and I’ve certainly let people down before, and I need to learn how to accept that possibility without letting it handicap me socially.

The problem which is nagging me in the back of my head (now matter how much I try to ignore it) is that I was SO HAPPY in my little world with Matt.  If we spent time with people, it was typically just people who we were comfortable around.  If we had to meet new people, at least we were there to help and encourage each other.  Now I have to go back to doing it all on my own.  That sounds a little melodramatic, I know, but really no one should be juding me for being dramatic right now (including myself). 

Ohhhh…..siggghhhhhhh…..I don’t want to do any of this shit. 

But I have to.

So does anyone want to hang out with me tonight? 

In lieu of texting Matt

Since I can’t text Matt to tell him how immensely I’m missing him, I’m writing it here. 

One of my favorite things EVER was to get home after an unpleasant day at work (or any day at work for that matter) and snuggle on the couch with Matt.  I’ve caught myself trying to look forward to that a couple of times this morning.  It’s so very disappointing to realize that the reason I’m looking forward to being home is because Matt will be there.  Because he won’t be there. 

Oh fuck, I miss him so much.  My cognative mind knows that I’ll be OK eventually.  But that doesn’t really translate into helping me feel better at the moment at all. 

I’m going to have to learn to live in a completely different way.  I’ve been single before – plenty of experience there – but it’s horrible to be forced into this against my will. 

And now it’s been a month (finally? already?)

A month ago, around 6:30am, I kissed Matt goodbye for the last time.  Between 11:30 and 12:00, he shot himself after telling me that it was too late and to remember that nothing he was going to do was about me. 

One month.  He was in the hospital last June for almost the same amount of time, only that time I got him back.  This time last year I had no idea what was about to hit me in a couple of months; I can hardly believe that all of this has happened in less than a year.  What is the point of all this pain??  IS there a point?  Why would there be a point?  (This is rhetorical – please don’t answer – I have to find the answer for myself.)  I know that I at least helped to make two people VERY happy by letting them adopt my daughter – that pain ended up being redemptive and gratifying, and time has mended those wounds so well.  From what I read about dealing with my current situation though, I can see that this is not something that I will ever “get over.”  I will always miss Matt.  Sometimes that realization makes me want to slap him for doing this to me, though I know (as much as I can) why he did it and that he held on as long as he could because he loved me and didn’t want to hurt me.

I feel like I’m starting to say the same things here.  I definitely keep thinking the same things over and over, so it seems appropriate that my writing would reflect that.  I hope to be able to move on from these same issues at some point.  Sometimes I feel like this is getting just a little bit easier, but sometimes it’s just as painful as it was a month ago.  I know that’s natural. 

Matt had a friend on FB – I have no idea what her name was – who used to post status updates all the time about how much she missed her late husband.  I felt sorry and a little embarrassed for her – don’t people know that they shouldn’t be airing all their problems on FB?  But now I understand.  When you lose your husband, you lose your best friend and your support system (and so much more).  You have to reach out to people somehow.  And I am so, so lonely – even when there are people around.  I long for physical affection and to know that I’m still special and loved.  People tell me they love me, but it’s hard for me to believe sometimes.  I guess maybe that’s my problem.  It’s such a different love from the kind that Matt gave me though, and I miss that so horribly much.

Sometimes it feels good to get my thoughts into words and organized, but right now it doesn’t feel like it’s helping.  I still feel fuzzy and cloudy and sad and lonely and confused.

Wednesday #4 (or, Will I Forever Mark Time This Way?)

I feel annoying disconnected at work.  Everything is the same in my brain, but I don’t have any freedom of expression here (other than writing).  It’s not so bad when I’m busy, but I don’t typically stay busy all day long.  I want this pain to be over, but I know that I have to walk through it before I can heal and I’d like to get on with that.  This is me being impatient though, and trying to fix the problem as quickly as I can.  It’s not realistic.  What IS realistic is that I am walking through this even at work – it’s just more frustrating here.

I found a suicide survivor forum which I joined, Alliance of Hope, and I read something this morning which has been stuck in the back of my head since then.  The writer said something along the lines of, “How am I supposed to ‘move on’?  The person who loved me and protected me and shared my life is gone.  The person who was the reason I cooked meals, kept the house clean, and dressed myself up is gone.  The person who made me coffee and sat with me every day is gone.  How in the world can I move on?”  This really resonates with me.  My brain tries to downplay all the stress I’m under sometimes, but I shouldn’t let it because my life is very much pieces of what it used to be.  I, myself, am broken too.  Even though I had more warning than some people whose loved ones commit suicide, that doesn’t change the fact that it was sudden and unexpected and sometimes I feel like I’ve been through a paper shredder. 

Today, at this moment, I am dealing with the fact that Matt is dead and will never, ever be coming back to me.  I am accepting it.  Further implications have not been acknowledged – I’m just wrapping my head around what I can and not worrying about the rest.  I know this is subject to change at any minute but I’m glad that I can see it this way right now.  It’s so much more painful to not be able to believe that I’ll see Matt again but at the same time not be able to let go. 

For the record, every time any of you comments on my posts, I get excited.  So you should keep doing it/do it more often.  🙂  Even if the feedback isn’t necessarily “helpful” to me, the fact that there IS feedback makes me glad. 

By the way…

I know these last SEVERAL posts have been quite glum. I know it’s not fun to read depressing shit all the time. But I don’t want anyone worrying about me, because I’m alive and plan to stay that way. I have no idea about anything else at this point, but I know that I’m going to keep plodding along with this life and living stuff. As much as I abhor the thought of living the rest of my life without Matt, I don’t want to die with him either. And that will be my choice as long as I am alive.

So just wanted to let everyone know that I know that I’ll probably be okay again. I knew it before Matt killed himself, and he knew it too. I don’t want to accept that right now because I don’t want to accept that Matt is never coming back to me, but it’s just true and something that I cannot deny. I don’t think that my right brain and my left brain have ever been at odds to this extent before. It’s like there’s a disconnect between the two sides, and I can only focus on one side at a time rather than reconciling them. But I have no right to complain about brain problems.