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Everyday Care

PCA: personal care assistant

When the latest PCA discovers
wet towels in the washer, a baguette
inside its paper sleeve on the parquet
and cat pee in the foyer, she hovers
beside the leather club chair where a man’s
torso slouches in a woolen topcoat
buttoned up tightly to a shaven throat;
overloaded her brain tumbles and spins.

Bracing one hip against an armrest, she reads
his pallid skin, open mouth, widened eyes,
extends a slender hand and caresses
a tuft of gray across his cool forehead,
as if comforting a child, then at once
recovers her preconditioned balance.

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David Ram retired from teaching community college and lives in western Massachusetts.

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14 Responses

  1. Paul A. Freeman

    I love this snapshot of life, where, even though momentarily, human feelings for the individual overwhelm the ‘preconditioned balance’ of a care worker’s remit. You paint a very vivid picture, David.

    Thanks for the read.

    Reply
    • David Ram

      Paul, Thank you for your careful reading and thoughtful response.

      Reply
  2. Roy Eugene Peterson

    Fortunate person to have such tender care. Thank you for the providing the PCA note. I did not know what it stood for otherwise.

    Reply
    • David Ram

      Roy, You can thank the editor who had the foresight to define PCA.

      Reply
  3. Maria

    This impactful poem loosely reminds me of Auden’s Musee Des Beaux Arts. That ‘About suffering they were never wrong the Old Masters,’ in that it takes place whilst so many mundane things are happening.
    Only in this case amongst the mundane someone has passed away quietly, hopefully without suffering , to be found by someone who is kind and gentle. Hopefully I have read it correctly.
    Thank you.

    Reply
    • David Ram

      Maria, You interpret the poem’s content and theme as I intend. I appreciate you associating it with Auden’s.

      Reply
  4. Margaret Coats

    Loving personal care in an atmosphere where there are many distractions seemingly needing to be set right! The patient as well as the nurse may recover “preconditioned balance.” Well spoken, David.

    Reply
  5. Janice Canerdy

    It takes SPECIAL people (professionals and nonprofessionals) to care for the
    elderly and/or infirm. I have friends who care for those who cannot be alone.
    The situations they face . . . ! David, your descriptive, moving poem pays a lovely tribute to compassionate PCA’s. God forbid that cold, uncaring individuals should EVER darken the doors of needy people who cannot care for themselves!

    Reply
    • David Ram

      Thanks, Janice. I share your concern for compassionate care and appreciate your kind words.

      Reply
  6. Shamik Banerjee

    I believe this is a masterpiece. There are only two distinct happenings in this poem: first, the PCA becoming aware of her duty to aid the old man and second, her aiding. Just two different scenes yet so detailed as if some scene from an art film with little actions and words but more gestures. Plus, the language—torso slouched in a coat that’ fastened to his throat. The renewal of his “preconditioned balance” is much like a breath of relief. Excellent poem, David.

    Reply
    • David Ram

      Thank you very much, Shamik. I appreciate greatly your observations about the methods and quality of the poem.

      Reply
  7. Susan Jarvis Bryant

    This poem has burrowed under my skin and shaken me to my bones with its raw honesty. You have captured the pain, compassion, and the ways of this wicked world in a poem that will haunt me long after leaving this page. David, thank you! My grandfather had a stroke and slipped into a coma in a British nursing home. The staff cleared away his uneaten breakfast without even noticing he was never going to wake up.

    Reply
  8. David Ram

    Susan, Sorry for your grandfather’s experience and thank you for sharing it with us. I appreciate you taking the poem to heart.

    Reply

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