I wonder if you’d carry me for a while?
In your arms I could make another mile.
Is it fair to make it so hard,
When all I can offer is a smile.
This body is spent, broken and scarred,
And yet I long to be your guard.
You’ll forgive me when I leave,
I wish this disease came with a trading card.
In stranger’s arms you’ll seek reprieve,
Gentler hands than mine will help you grieve.
One step seems as long as a mile,
But with time you’ll forgive and believe.
Will you carry me for a while?
I’ll give you my most radiant smile.
Will you carry me down the aisle?
Although short on time, it will be worthwhile.
Over at dVerse, Gay Reiser Cannon challenged us to draw inspiration from Robert Foster’s classic Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening and write a poem in iambic tetrameter, shaping the poem in Rubaiyat stanzas originally created by Edward Fitzgerald. Each verse (except the last) follows an a-a-b-a rhyming scheme, with the b line in each stanza setting the main rhyme in the following stanza making it a chain rhyme. The end result is a rhyme scheme of AABA-BBCB-CCDC-DDDD.
I love this idea and was very eager to test my abilities in this challenge. I must admit it required a little bit more of my time and effort, but in the end, it was worth it.
Snow's Fissures and Fractures 
But what a worthwhile endeavor! You wrote this beautifully. I have friends now my age who are at this place..failing a bit, knowing an end is near but still wanting the arms of their loved ones to lift them up, to carry them forward, to impart those last secrets, long forgotten until now memories, the stories of stories about great and great, great grandparents that seemed so fragmented and unimportant now seen as needed to keep the threads of family garments together. Beautiful.
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Thank you, much appreciated.
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One wants the backstory of this poem. I love the asking for support, the being carried for a while. Lord knows, we all could use some of that!
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Thank you so much for commenting.
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This is so bittersweet.. coming to that end, we still wish to have someone with us.. I like the thought of this being told…
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Glad you liked it.
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A beautiful response ~ I specially like the repeat of the questions on the last stanza & ending on a hopeful note ~ Thanks for joining in ~
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It was my pleasure, thank you for your kind words.
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interesting story in this…that makes me wonder…the disease, wishing to trade it off…knowing they will find reprieve in the arms of another….the hope that even if but for a short time they are compassionate enough to stay…
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Well, you got it. That was all I wanted to express here. Thank you so much.
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Beautiful.
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Thank you.
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what a gorgeous image Lore and your poem again is so poignant – and good work on the iambic tetrameter and yet putting such meaning into it!
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Double tnx! Participating in dVerse challenges opened up new horizons.
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Such sad but beautiful words.
Anna :o]
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Thank you, much appreciated.
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Part of the process of leaving means letting go, but I think it’s wonderful to ask and to reciprocate, hold and be held during this most difficult time..you did the form justice.
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Thank you, I am happy you got all I was aiming for.
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A very poignant poem, great write… It’s a long time since I have written any poetry worth sharing, must make more effort – I miss d’Verse
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That would be lovely, hope you write something. Thank you.
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