She Cycles Away



My mother is cycling away. I can feel it
as she sits with me, on my lap.
All her strength seems to be aimed at leaving,
pushing forward and talking in the past.

She’s like the girl again, hardly a woman.
Desolated she repeats the track in her mind
from the north to the south and back

Her legs go forth in a furious rage
driven by pulses from below her waist.
Her curved back falls weak after each fit.

My mother’s cycling to the past gets stronger.
She’s still here but yet no longer.

About this poem

In remembrance of my mother, who suffered from Alzheimer's

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Submitted by ludy_b on October 23, 2021

Modified by ludy_b on December 03, 2022

31 sec read
119

Quick analysis:

Scheme AXXX XXX XXA BB
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 494
Words 105
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 4, 3, 3, 2

Ludy Bührs

 · Amsterdam

The topics she writes about are very diverse, so are the poetry styles she applies. As a Dutch translator and poet, having lived in Cambodia's capital city Phnom Penh for 2.5 years, in 2008 she published "Op de ruïnes van een rijk" (On the Ruins of an Empire) ISBN 978-90-8834-483-1 with 60 poems based on her experiences there. In 2007 she received a Certificate of Accomplishment as one of The Best Poems and Poets of 2007 issued by poetry.com and the International Library of Poetry for her poem Choked Truth, her own translation of "Verstikte waarheid", one of the poems in the book. Born in 1956, she still works as an independent translator, translating from English into Dutch. more…

All Ludy Bührs poems | Ludy Bührs Books

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Discuss the poem She Cycles Away with the community...

3 Comments
  • S.Zaynab.Kamoonpury
    Wow in super metaphoric creative way you describe the cycling back and plight of an alzheimer near dear one. Kudos!

    Plz do read and comment my newest poem too, im new here but have been writing on other sites since ages. 
    LikeReply 13 years ago
  • ganesh_v
    Nice..a good remembrance
    LikeReply 23 years ago
  • Soulwriter
    Very touching :(
    LikeReply 13 years ago

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"She Cycles Away" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 21 Dec. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/112600/she-cycles-away>.

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