Lost for words
“Here today, gone tomorrow.”
That’s what we often say in our office,
such a rapid turnover of staff.
But not about him.
He was “here for the duration,”
really “had his feet under the table.”
Or so it seemed.
In fact, he was here yesterday, gone today.
Paramedics roared up,
lights flashing, siren blaring,
but there was nothing they could do.
They crept away,
leaving a stunned silence.
We were at a loss,
none of our usual sayings applied.
No time to say anything,
not even: “Goodbye.”
Hi Jonathan. This is great, with the small proviso that the contrast between the paramedics roaring up and then creeping away – that sounds odds and implies he’d already vanished. Is that what you mean? If not, I’d suggest you say very simply
‘They left a stunned silence behind them” or equivalent.But it’s a good poem, like it.
Not vanished, Gill – dead! There was nothing the paramedics could do. At a loss i.e. lost for words & also lost a colleague. Perhaps I should have made this clearer?
Yes, on thinking about it, I’ve made some amendments. Thanks for the input, Gill.
I like the way you’ve used the cliched sayings as a testament to the man… super idea. I agree with Gill about the paramedics. I think you could lose ‘They crept away / leaving a stunned silence’. The fact that your colleague had died is quite clear. In fact ‘nothing they could do’ could be in inverted commas too. The title is doing its stuff very well.
I don’t think you need ‘Or so it seemed’ either, it’s pre-empting the point of the poem.
Another super response to the prompt, Jonathan!
really brilliant Jonathan, it’s a tight little poem that packs a punch. I like the clipped style of it matching the theme.
Thanks, Fiona. Glad you liked it!