Why Am I Finding It Difficult to Articulate My Thoughts

When I put fingers to the keyboard, I stall

Caroline de Braganza
4 min readAug 2, 2024
Image by Steve Buissinne from Pixabay

Am I pretending I’m okay now — kidding myself that I’m over the grief?

I guess it’s the switching from we to me has created this dilemma. I’m not sure who I am or how to get out of this jam, surviving from one pension check to the next; never knowing when I can escape this trap of poverty.

Yes, I’m announcing it for all to hear. I can’t bear to read stories where people can socialize, travel, jump into their car to visit friends or meet for lunch, or join a book club, or go to the library.

I live miles away up a dirt track that demands an SUV with higher ground clearance. The road surface is so bad an ordinary car could end up with a battered oil sump.

I’m stuck at home, a prisoner of circumstance; dependent on the goodwill of the old acquaintance of my late husband for a roof over my head — I can’t even afford to pay rent. On top of that, the man’s a narcissist and thrives on negativity.

For instance, I put more than enough petrol in his car for my weekly shopping — the only time I ever get away from this ramshackle cottage. Yet he accuses me behind my back of being a taker.

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Caroline de Braganza
Caroline de Braganza

Written by Caroline de Braganza

Wise Older Woman (WOW). Poetry, essays, humor. Passion for mental health, social justice, politics, diverse cultures, the world and environment.

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