Ruby sits in a chair on the 2nd floor landing
peering over the edge
waiting out her next
social security check
joining the gossip girls turned grannies
She group talks
through days that crawl
along the hands of a clock
Ruby wonders upon the comings and goings
of tenants and guests
offers unsolicited advice
her dark eyes darting
considering life before Hospice meetings
and AARP
There was another era
another place
with Joe
way before they were old
in the time of swing skirts
and bobby socks
They would take the Chevy
up to the bluff
and listen to
“In the Still of the Night
I held you
Held you tight…”
That time of youth and beauty
romance bloomed purple
like the lavender bush
outside her window
Before Joe’s hands became calloused
with wear
before her heart became stone heavy…
there were malt shops
and charm filled nights
before Dak To and Ong Thanh
instead of Medicare
it was Jitterbug
and late nights with Sherlene
and not Ilene
comatose there in the corner
asking where Eddie Fisher was
No grand-kids hiding beer in the fridge
Ruby prefers those little bottles of cola
to bottles of pills
She wore Joe’s ring around her neck
closes her eyes and sees
the aqua booth and pink counters
Elvis on the jukebox
Joe’s black shoes shined up like new money
Years twirled
Joe succumbed to limitations
of his well-worn heart
leaving her heart solo
her eyes searching
for those familiar nights…
33 Comments
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hey wait a minute, I have an AARP membership.
Oh Jim, you…ha ha 🙂 But I have one too, so there !
Growing old sucks… and I guess that wasn’t the Whitesnake version of Still of the Night.
I think there are pros and cons to growing old. I think it is especially hard on those people who find “the love” of their life, the one that eludes many of us. I am quite a 50s and 60s music buff, so I have to go with the originals on those 😀
There are pros and cons to growing old but after a while, the cons start to outweigh the pros. Senior discounts…whoo-hooo!
Well written piece of nostalgia. Glad I don’t do depression, this might just push me over the edge… !!! 🙂
Oh Sha’Tara, I didn’t mean to be a downer. If it helps, I think this is just one of those “days” for Ruby. I think she really lives it up on Bingo night, that’s what I’ve heard 😀
I was joking, reference to Ruby’s location on the second floor landing peering over the edge…
Oh, ha ha…well she actually does that…I’m always afraid she is gonna go over just trying to see what everyone is doing on the 1st floor.
It’s a dreadful thing to have only memories, no enjoyment in today. Poor Ruby! You made me feel so sad for her.
Pauline, I think we can say that this was just one of those “days” for Ruby and she was feeling a bit down. I’ve heard that she really whoops it up on Bingo night and also at the casino….maybe that will be the next story 😀
I’m mightily relieved to hear that Lana! I shall look forward to hearing about that 🙂
You very skillfully took me to an era I’m (far) too young to have experienced, LT. Another, yet another, excellent piece to add to your growing library of such efforts. 🙂
Confessional time again… Never heard this song before either. What have I been doing these last fifty years!!!
My goodness, Phil, I don’t know what you have been listening too all this time, but stick with me, and I’ll introduce you to all sorts of music. I’m a huge fan of 50s through 80s music. That particular song is one of my favorites. Thank you for the lovely compliment!
Looking forward to my ears being opened 🙂
Beautifully, tenderly, poignant
Thanks so much, Derrick.
Poignant memories. Yes those are mine too. I grew up in the same era but I marvel at how the world changed and at my children and grandchildren and their dreams and ideas. The memories are wonderful and mine to keep forever but the future is an adventure and I will relish it for as long as possible and hopefully be able to add it to my memories.
Well done.
Thank you so much. I missed the fifties, but I have always been enchanted by that decade and the music. In the Still of the Night is one of my favorite songs. I say you are right, we should enjoy all stages of life and add it to our library of life. My mother is convalescing in a rehabilitation center at the moment. I meet a lot of older folks. Some of them are a bit melancholy at loosing their spouses. I put myself into their shoes and try to imagine their life on a particular day. Thank you.
This is beautiful and melancholy. The passage of youth into old age isn’t easy. Lots of losses with those wonderful memories. If we are lucky enough to live so long, we will have these moments too. <3
Thank you, Diana. The passage is not easy, but yet there are many pros and cons of getting older. I think it is very difficult for folks who have had that one special love for a long time, then to loose that person. I put myself in their shoes to imagine a day in their life. I’m sure they have happier days too. xo
So much has to do with attitude, Lana, but I agree that losing a life long partner would must leave a gaping hole no matter how positive one tries to be. *Sigh*
Aw, gee, this is just so sad. I feel so sorry for poor Ruby, but at least she’s still alive, right? And nobody can take away her memories!
Very true, Debbie….and we will say that this is just one day in Ruby’s life. You can never tell, she may go out and buy a salt lamp 😀
Ruby’s memories are so real and vivid… beautiful writing, love the flashing between the present and the past, how her memories appeal to ALL of the senses. Well done, Lana! 🙂
Ah Joan, my lovely poet friend. I so enjoy your thoughtful comments on my work. I am working to engage all or almost all the senses with my poetry. I feel like I have come a long way since I’ve been keeping my WP blog. I still have miles to go before I sleep 😀 Thank you!
Beautiful and poignant writing, Lana. I became carried away with Ruby’s memories, into another era. Powerful piece tinged with sadness and nostalgia.
Thank you, Annika. I have always been infatuated with the 1950s, the music, fsshion, cars, and just that crisp feeling of living in a time without wars when families seemed to be stronger and things, in general, seemed much more simple.
Well, the ’50’ weren’t a time without war. The Korean war, 1950-53 was immediately followed by the Vietnam war, 1954-73. Behind that but very much in evidence everywhere was the Cold War, and of course let’s not forget the McCathy era of communist witch hunts that destroyed thousands of innocent lives in the US. Since WWI, America has actually never been in a state of non-war, although most were carefully hidden from the American public in order to keep up an image of America as a great country of peace and democracy. Americans bought it, the rest of the world didn’t. The other side of the 50’s was the huge surge in consumerism and the rise of deadly pesticides and herbicides that led to the writing of “Silent Sprint” by Rachel Carson and the partial destruction of the ozone layer by fluorocarbons, or refrigerants used in aerosol cans as propellant for, well, everything. Sorry, but the 50’s was a glitzy and dirty era that set the world on the irrevocable path of environmental degradation and global wars. That’s the side of the coin that has the mushroom cloud on it, not Elvis’ effigy. The Fifties was also the decade of the Edsel, and maybe that says it best. OK, so I’m old enough to have lived the Fifties, and I drove two 50’s monsters: a Buick Special and a Chev Biscayne… though that was in the Sixties… Well, you couldn’t go to high school and not have a car in those days.
I always forget about the Korean War as I was not alive in the 50s. The Vietnam War was far worse in the 60s. The first modern day superpower was Hitler’s Germany and the Cold War was the race to see who would inherit that title. Not that it was a good thing at all, but that’s the way I see it. Other countries have also shared in some less than sterling practices including slavery, persecution, labor horrors, pollution, human rights. America is far from perfect and the only people who thing it is are wearing Make America Great Again hats. If you thing the past is bad, then brace yourself as we begin this new era. Truly there are both good and bad things inherent in any time period. Some of the better was the invention of rock n roll, women had the option of working and people who built houses could afford to live in them. As far as superpowers go, guess we would have had the choice of Russia, China, America or the Third Reich.
Some of the better was the invention of rock n roll, women had the option of working and people who built houses could afford to live in them. OK, so I’m old enough to have lived the Fifties, and I drove two 50’s monsters: a Buick Special and a Chev Biscayne… though that was in the Sixties… Well, you couldn’t go to high school and not have a car in those days.
Those cars ruled. Thanks so much for commenting and following my blog!
Some of the better was the invention of rock n roll, women had the option of working and people who built houses could afford to live in them. Some of the better was the invention of rock n roll, women had the option of working and people who built houses could afford to live in them.