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AN OLD LADY'S POEM
When an old lady died in the geriatric ward of a small
hospital near Dundee, Scotland, it was felt that she had
nothing left of any value. Later, when the nurses were going
through her meager possessions, they found this poem. Its
quality and content so impressed the staff that copies were
made and distributed to every nurse in the hospital. One
nurse took her copy to Ireland. The old lady's sole bequest
to posterity has since appeared in the Christmas edition of
the News Magazine of the North Ireland Association for
Mental Health. A slide presentation has also been made
based on her simple, but eloquent, poem...And this little old
Scottish lady, with nothing left to give to the world, is now
the author of this "anonymous" poem winging across the
Internet.
Goes to show that we all leave "SOME footprints in time".....
An Old Lady's Poem
What do you see, nurses, what do you see?
What are you thinking when you're
looking at me?
A crabby old woman, not very wise,
Uncertain of habit, with faraway eyes?
Who dribbles her food and makes
no reply
When you say in a loud voice, "I do
wish you'd try!"
Who seems not to notice the things
that you do,
And forever is losing a stocking or
shoe.....
Who, resisting or not, lets you do
as you will,
With bathing and feeding, the long
day to fill....
Is that what you're thinking? Is
that what you see?
Then open your eyes, nurse; you're
not looking at me.
I'll tell you who I am as I sit here so
still,
As I do at your bidding, as I eat at
your will.
I'm a small child of ten ... with a
father and mother,
Brothers and sisters, who love one another.
A young girl of sixteen, with wings
on her feet,
Dreaming that soon now a lover
she'll meet.
A bride soon at twenty -- my heart
gives a leap,
Remembering the vows that I
promised to keep.
At twenty-five now, I have young of
my own,
Who need me to guide and a
secure happy home.
A woman of thirty, my young now
grown fast,
Bound to each other with ties that
should last.
At forty, my young sons have
grown and are gone,
But my man's beside me to see I
don't mourn.
At fifty once more, babies play
round my knee,
Again we know children, my loved
one and me.
Dark days are upon me, my
husband is dead;
I look at the future, I shudder with dread.
For my young are all rearing young
of their own,
And I think of the years and the
love that I've known.
I'm now an old woman ... and
nature is cruel;
'Tis jest to make old age look like a
fool.
The body, it crumbles, grace and
vigor depart,
There is now a stone where I once
had a heart.
But inside this old carcass a young
girl still dwells,
And now and again my battered
heart swells.
I remember the joys, I remember
the pain,
And I'm loving and living life over again.
I think of the years . all too few,
gone too fast,
And accept the stark fact that
nothing can last.
So open your eyes, nurses, open
and see,
Not a crabby old woman;
Look closer ... see ME!!
....Remember this poem when you
next meet an old person who you might
brush aside without looking at the
young soul within ......
We will one day be there, too!
SHARE THIS POEM.........ITS
SOMETHING WE ALL NEED TO READ
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK
Eat Right, Exercise, Die Anyway
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