a moment turning

arqios

 

"A Slow Turning"

The stairs lengthen each season,
though the house remains the same.
Names slip from my tongue—
like coins through a frayed pocket,
clinking faintly in corridors I no longer patrol.

I misplace mornings,
folding them into afternoons
that arrive already weary.

The calendar stares back blank,
its squares scraped clean,
eraser dust gathering at the margins.

Once, I carried lanterns of memory—
now their glass fogs, their wicks splutter,
spitting wax and smoke
into rooms that echo with absence.

The rooms grow hollow,
like ribs without breath,
their emptiness pressing inward
until silence settles in the chest.

Still, I walk.
Each step rehearses collapse,
each pause claws back a name.
The body grows heavier,
but the quiet between heartbeats
remains mine to measure.





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Comments12

  • OA Poetry

    This really captures the slow fading of memory. A nice write!

    • arqios

      Thanks most appreciatively, O A🕊️🙏🏻

      • OA Poetry

        You’re welcome 🙏

        • arqios

          Thank you so much, OAP; you are much appreciated 🕊️🕊️

        • sorenbarrett

          Age, memory, the more pages read the harder to retain all the details and as the end grows near all merges into one story without details. In some dementia hastens the pace. A lovely write my friend and I feel it all to clearly as the years take their toll. I love the metaphor used here and the second stanza is very identifiable.

          • arqios

            Something that creeps up ever so gradually but could be merciless in its full force and form; a real test on the humanity of many ought-to-be carers 🙏🏻🕊️

          • orchidee

            A fine write A.
            No offence to those with real memory problems - but what can my 3 brain cells remember?! lol.

            • arqios

              Something that two can’t, perhaps 🤔🙏🏻🕊️

              • orchidee

                Yes, dunno why I complain - 3 brain cells better than 2. lol.

              • Tristan Robert Lange

                Rik, this unfolds with such grace and grief…every line a slow step down a familiar hall, still lit by the flicker of memory. Profound and haunting, my friend. 🌹🖤🙏🕯️🐦‍⬛

                • arqios

                  I’d love to have that grand hall one day! Thanks, T🙏🏻🕊️

                • Jerry Reynolds

                  Good write, Arqios. Time rounds out all the edges for sure.

                  • arqios

                    There may be quite a few to round out on my end! Thanks so much, dear Jerry 🙏🏻🕊️

                  • Bella Shepard

                    You capture beautifully the gradual cognative decline we suffer as the years creep up on us. I can relate as I recognize some of the very things you touch upon, in my every day life. I hope we can still find a sense of purpose, no matter how many times we forget where we've put things, or the reason for walking into a room, we have no choice but to go on. Well done done my friend!

                    • arqios

                      Thanks ever so kindly dear Bella. Purpose for living can be so important when how we are living and the quality of our living changes. 🙏🏻🕊️

                    • Goldfinch60

                      Time brings this to us all Rik but the 'quiet between the heartbeats' bring us peace and loe.

                      Andy

                      • arqios

                        Let there be peace and love all of our days! 🙏🏻🕊️

                      • Paul Bell

                        The rise and fall of life with no battery charge required.
                        In a strange way, there's a realisation it's happening, but happen it must cause life dictates it should.
                        Poignant moment for us all, check your time clocks.

                        • arqios

                          Indeed! And the clocks seem to tick just a tad faster, as well. Thanks so much, dear poet. 🕊️🙏

                        • PerditaRose

                          This is something I fear. I hope that at least one of the cures comes to fruition. Your imagery is beautiful and made this a personal experience for me.

                          • arqios

                            Me as well. May cures present themselves as we seek them. Thank you🙏🕊️

                          • Dan Williams

                            Amen. This is just wonderful, articulates so well what may be an epidemic. Stalling out halfway through a sentence, unable to call up names known for a lifetime,
                            " corridors I no longer patrol". well spoken! nice work!

                            • arqios

                              Hey Dan! Long time, man. Without impediment it seems we shall all go through that. Thanks so much 🙏🕊️

                            • NafisaSB

                              what a beautiful way to describe the passing days....yes, the body does get heavier, and the breaths shorter, but the quiet in between will always be yours to measure, and be satisfied

                              • arqios

                                Amen! Thank you, safina 🙏🕊️

                              • rebellion_in_sanity

                                Undoubtedly one of the best I have come across on tbe theme of aging. A fave.



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