Homonymous Hemianopia
Francis Campbell
Poetry
It’s hard to see what’s gong on
When half your vision’s gone.
When half your vision’s gone.
The problem of course is worse for me
Being a bloke I stand and pee,
Homonymous Hemianopia they say I’ve got;
Basically my vision’s shot.
It’s to the left my problem lies
Whatever’s there is hidden from my eyes,
So I guess I should just take a seat
Instead of always getting it on my feet.
My aim is not what it always was.
I’ll have to give in soon because
The wife is saying I should just sit,
But that means I’d have to admit
To having a problem, not being able to,
Do all the things I used to.
I met a gentleman with a recent stroke who mentioned how toileting was difficult but managed to make light of the situation. I realized how important a sense of humour was to his way of living and I hope I conveyed a little of that in the above poem. The initial creative piece began a little cruder but did not do the patient justice and was unnecessary and so I changed it to its current for -m which I hope is palatable to all!
Francis Campbell, Whole Person Care, Year One, 2010
I really enjoyed this piece of work as I resonate with the mindset of the narrator. I believe that it is important to be open and honest about your conditions, even if it is in the form of just joking to yourself. Oftentimes, it is easy to pretend that the condition doesn’t exist as the narrator admits to doing in the last few lines of the poem. I find it really interesting that the author draws inspiration from an activity that happens daily and would not normally be done with too much effort, as it shows the impact that conditions, especially hidden ones, can have on individual’s lives.
I found this poem’s humour regarding a very serious matter gave a sense of relatability to me, as through the humour the narrator conveyed the difficulties of living with Homonymous Hemianopia and really demonstrated through the trivial tasks that may be easier to myself become quite a challenge while living with the condition. The narrator also shows how important it is to be comfortable seeing the humour in “embarrassing” topics to keep a positive outlook on an otherwise difficult condition.