Poems and Stories: In Their Words...

The ALS Association Northern New England Chapter wishes to extend its appreciation to the patients and their family members who have graciously donated their time and words to share their personal journeys with our website visitors. We invite other pALS and their family members to use their creative writing skills and thoughtful expressions in this exciting way for others to enjoy reading.

If you are interested in writing a piece for inclusion on this page, please contact admin@alsanne.org for more information. Happy Reading!

The Physicist's Answer

By Trudy S., Maine

Wielding unknown tools
This illness works with silent skill
To sever nerve from muscle.
No longer does the one write the music
To which the other can so nimbly dance.
From these, such small gaps,
A whole life leaks unchecked
Until heavy only with weakness
The question asks itself,
What survives?
There is no easy answer.
But consider the physicists
Who split tiny into infinitesimal
Until matter disappeared.
They will tell you that
When everything is gone,
Relationship remains.

How Are You Doing?

By Trudy S., Maine

Often asked and
So difficult to answer.
That there is more
Sad work and worry
Than anyone would want
Is obvious, but no real response.
I am tender like new paint
Easily ripped open by almost any touch,
As vulnerable to beauty as to pain.
I am thick with contradiction
And as thin as the sound
Of his weakened breath.
I am falling apart, and,
For one final deep beautiful time,
Falling in love.

Beyond Words

By Trudy S., Maine

The great flow of human language
Has its headwaters somewhere
In the high reaches of consciousness.
From there, thoughts and feelings
Cascade through the biochemistry of brain
And, propelled by living breath,
Navigate the physiology of
Throat, tongue and teeth to emerge
At the mouth of the world as words.
Finely crafted vessels of meaning
Each launched upon its own journey.
I should have stood wonderstruck
By each word you ever spoke,
But I took them all for granted.
Now we save and store some
Before the slurring and struggle
Become too great, but some things
Must be said firsthand fresh.
So promise me that when silence overtakes us
You will look down from those high reaches
To find me looking up.
Promise that when our eyes meet
We will say brand new "I love yous"
In a language made of light.