TELLING PEOPLE

TELLING PEOPLE.


Some people find it hard to tell
in case their stomas start to smell.
They find it all embarrassing
to talk about this wee small thing.


They will pretend it is not there
and don’t intend to ever share.
I think they think that one fine day
this blinking thing will go away.


They feel that folks won’t understand
so poke their heads right in the sand.
But this is not what I have found
as I have spread the word around.


There’s never need for lacrimation (crying)
most folks have a fascination.
They seem keen to find out from me
all about my ostomy.


So I will tell them what I know
and if they want I’ll also show.
And I am not ashamed of it
as everyone has got to shit.


When once I’ve done the how’s and why’s
then nothing comes as a surprise.
There must be little left to hide
so they just take it in their stride.

So not to make it serious
it’s got to be hilarious.
Thus, I’ll treat it like a farce
so us and them can have some laughs.


When once I’ve started I’ll tell jokes
then it’s light-hearted for these folks.
So they don’t know what lies behind
flurries of worries in my mind.


B. Withers 2013

Great way to look at it. Maybe easier said than done for some of us, but a great way of looking at it!

Hello weirdnewllife. Thanks for the supportive comment. These sorts of approaches are always easier for some people than others. Fortunately, I have always had a skill in dealing with things that some other people find difficult, so I like to practice this gift in whatever way I can. Hopefully by being open, upfront and amusingly entertaining in my rendering of the issues surrounding stomas, the generally ignorant 'outside' population will become better educated about the condition and not be too put off or disgusted by it. There are a number of very popular comedians who have made a living from 'toilet' humour, so there is obviously a receptive audience out there. All it needs is a few willing 'performers'! Interestingly, when I was presenting more serious stuff to invited audiences. I always got the impression that many of them were not there to be 'educated' so much as 'entertained' and amused.
Best wishes
Bill

Bill, I have to agree with you, some don't want to be educated. They would just like to be entertained and amused.
Angelicamarie

Thanks Angelicamarie. Although it wasn't meant to be a criticism, so much as an observation. However, sometimes there is a lot of education to be achieved through humour and entertainment as most of the population could verify by quoting in detail their favourite TV or films, whereas they might be hard-pushed to recall most of what they were formally taught in the educational system.
Best wishes
Bill

Bill, and I didn't say it to criticize anyone. I observe too. We are all different in what we like. In all truth, everyone came to this site for different reasons. I came for support, but that's me, speaking about why I'm here. Just wanted to clear that up.
Angelicamarie

Thanks for your light-hearted wit, Bill!

I love seeing different perspectives and believe "recovery," of sorts, is as unique to each of us as our fingerprints. We come from a variety of experiences, family dynamics, socioeconomic classes, and mores; further making one simple action or reaction impossible. I appreciate how you acknowledge our differences without judgment. After holding so much inside for so many years, I'm at a point in my life where I'm an open book. If there's anything from my thoughts, perspectives, and experiences that might help, teach, or comfort someone else - I am humbled. I'm not sure that I'd be quite as open with my ostomy if it would have come from an emergency situation, know what I mean? I've had good and bad experiences, and I know I still have more ahead of me.

Keep up the good work, make me think, inspire me to reach --> I dare ya ;) Vicki

Hello Angelicamarie. Sorry! it seems that once again I did not express myself clearly in that I did not interpret your response as any kind of criticism. The term was used in relation to my own comments on how people behave. Hence my alluding to 'observation' as a neutral way of viewing this phenomenon.
Best wishes
Bill

Hello Vicky. Thanks for your comments. I know what you mean about wondering if my attitudes might be different if the stoma was sprung on me rather than opting for it. The rhyming verses I put on this site are all to do with stomas. However, the sort of rhymes that may make us 'think' and contemplate the problems of the wider world are probably contained in my other work, which are about almost every issue that has been an affront to my value system over the years. There is one theme that has cropped up time and again in many forms and this is the concept of human bullying. I have written several rhyming volumes and novels with bullying as the central theme. There is much to be done to expose the horror and unfairness of this type of behaviour if we (as a species) are to take control of this type of abuse and 'terrorism'. However, a site like this is probably not the most appropriate forum for a more generalised discussion so I will simply continue to comment on those posts where people are being bullied because of their condition.
Best wishes
Bill