The Way It Ended by Gail White

The Way It Ended

by Gail White

So time went by and they were middle-aged,


which seemed a cruel joke that time had played 


on two young lovers. They were newly caged


canary birds – amused, not yet afraid. 


A golden anniversary came around 


where jokes were made and laughing stories told. 


The lovers joined the laugh, although they found


the joke – though not themselves – was growing old. 


She started losing and forgetting things. 


Where had she left her keys, put down her comb?


Her thoughts were like balloons with broken strings. 


Daily he visited the nursing home


to make her smile and keep her in their game. 


Death came at last. But old age never came.

One of the many things I love about poetry is that a single poem can not only tell a story in a short space, but it can also lead readers to experience so many different emotions as we travel along with the tale.

That is certainly true here, in this traditional sonnet by Gail White. Her poems are often humorous, so this one is a nice surprise. She even manages a bit of a dig at humor here,

which I love.

. . . . . . jokes were made and laughing stories told. 


The lovers joined the laugh, although they found


the joke--though not themselves--was growing old. 


Those who do humor well are great at knowing when something is not funny.

This is a Shakespearean or English sonnet. The rhyme scheme is easy to see here--all true rhyme.

ABAB

CDCD

EFEF

GG

And most of the lines have 10 syllables, which is also traditional. (Meter is the true tradition, in which stresses rather than syllables, are counted. Most people writing traditional sonnets these days use syllables.)

This poem starts with the word "So"; as with other words, like "and," this gives the poem a conversational feel, as if we are in the middle of a discussion with someone who is telling us about a couple she knows. Joking comes up in the 2nd line, setting us up for the bit on humor that is to come.

I love the metaphor of the couple, middle-aged, being canaries that have just been caged. It is such an unusual comparison, but it makes perfect sense.

Then there is the 50th anniversary, so we can assume this couple is most likely in their 70s. They have a party where people make jokes that are not funny. And then the woman begins to lose and forget things. Another incredible metaphor is provided by White: 
Her thoughts were like balloons with broken strings. If you have experience with someone suffering from dementia, this metaphor rings true.

Lest you think this is just the stress of modern life affecting the wife, we are told she is in a nursing home. (I believe this is an older poem. Is this tern still in use?) But the husband visits every day, and again we have some--if not humor--then happiness at least. He brings her smiles until she dies. But he has kept her in their game, keeping her, and both of them, young, at least to one another, and in good humor.

Very true, isnt it? Our bodies change, but we still seem to ourselves and to those we have known over decades much the same as we were back in our younger days. "The Way It Ended" is a beautiful love poem with a couple of amazing metaphors.