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Here’s Yoshini our family addition,
Suffering from cerebral palsy and mental retardation,
She is here in Eden to seek salvation,
Away from home thats filled with trepidation.
Even at age five, she seems like three,
Her body so frail and weak in the knee,
When carried, she slumps onto our body.
So light and effortless as can be.
There’s sorrow and confusion in her eyes,
The hearts of people that those eyes entice,
Could feel the pain that makes her cry,
And the pangs of torment that passes her by.
With much therapy, she can now sit up,
Even a small improvement lits up our heart,
We say our prayers as she learns to walk,
Whenever she stands, our hearts would throb,
Soon she’ll jump, run and even talk.
Thank you our dearest Yoshini,
During the times when we are weary,
Yoshini inspires us to strive for infinity.
Yvonne Foong © June 2005 |
Yvonne,
That’s a beautiful poem. Honestly.
I know what it’s like being with a child that suffers from Cerebal Palsy… My cousin is suffering from Cerebal Palsy and it’s really sad to see him in that condition because he seems so helpless… He’s 12 now and he’s not progressing - a lot.
Really, an amazing poem. I love it!
kyels I’m so sorry to hear about your cousin. Please send my regards to him and his parents. Where is he from? Is he encouraged to socialize and followed up by therapy? Is he schoolng?
Dear Yvonne,
Well, he is in Taiping now and he is living with his mother together with my Grandmother and Uncle. Previously he was staying in KL with his parents but when he was diagnosed with Cerebal Palsy they moved to Perak because my Aunt couldn’t handle him herself so she needs help as well.
My Aunt used to be ultra-protective of him and he can only stay at home but she will drive him around the Lake Gardens. Fortunately she realised her mistake and let him join a special school instead. Getting better now and he is also seeing a specialist from New Zealand in Penang.
Very little chance that he will become normal again but we are all hoping for the best cause it’s really sad to see him in that condition.
Goes to show how we take for granted our lives, the people and situation surrounding us =/
Kyels That’s good to hear. Well cerebal palsy and mental retardation is not curable but with therapy, the condition may be improved. I hoppe he gets better. And don’t forget, when he leaves school in the future, Eden HDC may be a choice for him, to be trained with living skills and maybe something to earn a small income with.
Reta how true!
Nice poeam,, though the strict meter and rhyme does constrict the more poigant aspect you may want to express in it…except for these lines which are far from awkward, but flow with feelings
There’s sorrow and confusion in her eyes,
The hearts of people that those eyes entice,
Could feel the pain that makes her cry,
And the pangs of torment that passes her by.
Yvonne,
Will tell my aunt about Eden HDC.
Thanks for the wishes. And am hoping and praying for him too!
And yeah, cerebal palsy is not curable… *sigh*
dreamer idior Thanks for the tip! You mean I should go easy?
Something like that, as in you can do without strict rhyme patterns (abab, abcabc etc) and use blank verse (unrhymed iambic pentameters, I think…Robert Frost is quite good with this, eg Birches), or just plain free verse (no rhyme or metric beat in the poem), Anyway, here’s a link for you:
Represetantive poetry online
http://eir.library.utoronto.ca/rpo/display/indexpoet.html
Birches
http://eir.library.utoronto.ca/rpo/display/poem841.html
PS. Since I am currently only partially employed, I would love to discuss poems, if you start a poetry reading section, or I may start one myself
So, Cheers then, and Happy Merdeka, our beloved country!
dreamer idior: Poetry recitation? Hmmm… I don’t know but the MPH writers’ circle maybe?
Yoshini @ Eden Handicap Service Centre…
And this is Yoshini.. She has cerebral palsy and is mentally challenged. I would like to share a poem written to her by Yvonne.
Here’s Yoshini our family addition,
Suffering from cerebral palsy and mental retardation,
She is here in Eden to seek sal…