Unpredictable
Francis Campbell
Poetry
There will always be shadows on the land
dark patches of ground from clouds high above.
The shadows move
spreading,
advancing
retreating
unpredictable.
dark patches of ground from clouds high above.
The shadows move
spreading,
advancing
retreating
unpredictable.
There will always be pillars of light
breaking through the darkness to spill out their radiance.
The light moves
spreading,
advancing,
retreating,
unpredictable.
There will always be you
living in a world of opposites
willing one to advance
another to retreat
the balance is ever-changing
unpredictable.
All that is truly predictable
is night following day.
I found starting this creative piece difficult and struggled for an idea, I wanted to write something open to interpretation, not obvious. Originally this poem was much longer, although I felt it would be better if kept short. My ideas changed as I wrote, I found it hard to decide a direction or an avenue to pursue. The idea was to depict the balance of health and illness we have to live with and how we cannot predict what will happen to us.
Whole Person Care – Year One
This poem reflects the dynamic aspect of health, through the constant battle between the presence and absence of illness. The imagery of the ‘pillars of light’ is indicative of the resilience of patients to maintain their ability to cope even with the onset of disease. The nuanced aspect of the poem particularly appeals to me as it highlights the uncertainty that everyone must face, which emphasises the importance of appreciating life each day – unknowing to whether one’s health will remain constant. This interpretation of the poem to me mirrored the highly impactful autobiography ‘When Breath Becomes Air’ by Paul Kalanithi in its theme of the unpredictability of health.
To me, this poem represents the unpredictability with living with a long-term, fluctuating condition. The repetition of the phrase “spreading, advancing, retreating” both in context of light and shadow shows how quickly a person’s mindset or outlook about their condition can change – some days it might feel like the light is spreading, others the shadows. This really well articulates the toll that living with a fluctuating chronic condition can have on a person’s mental health, particularly how uncertainty can make it very hard to reconcile or to cope with newfound impact the condition has on your life.