Crabby Old Man

[luxury]

Crabby Old Man



What do you see nurses?....What do you see?

What are you thinking......when you're looking at me?

A crabby old man, not very wise,

Uncertain of habit......with faraway eyes?

Who dribbles his 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 sock 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 an other


A young boy of Sixteen.....with wings on his feet

Dreaming that soon now.........a lover he'll meet.

A groom 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 man of Thirty.....My young now grown fast,

Bound to each other.......With ties that should last.



Forty, my young sons.....have grown and are gone,

But my woman'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.

covering up a tattoo

  

What type of person are you

[luxury]

Dark days are upon me..........My wife is now 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 man.........and nature is cruel.

Tis jest to make old age.....look like a fool.

The body, it crumbles.........grace and vigour, depart.

There is now a stone........where I once had a heart.

But inside this old carcass...... A young guy 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, people.........open and see.

Not a crabby old man. Look closer....see........ME!!

[andy-hughes]

That's amazing.

Thank you for sharing it.

[Ethel]

That is a very true thing - everyone has stories to tell, a life of happiness, pain, disappointments and achievements.

We were all young and beautiful once. It's a very strange fact that people always, without a doubt, can't get over how beautiful they were in old photos of themselves, yet at the time believed themselves to be quite plain.

A very lovely poem, thank you.
:)

[luxury]

Hi Andy,

This is the story behind it:

When an old man died in the geriatric ward of a small hospital near Tampa, Florida, it was believed that he had nothing left of any value. Later, when the nurses were going through his meagre 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 Missouri .


The old man's sole bequest to posterity has since appeared in the Christmas edition of the News Magazine of the St. Louis Association for Mental Health. A slide presentation has also been made based on his simple, but eloquent, poem.

And this little old man, with nothing left to give to the world, is now the author of this 'anonymous' poem winging across the Internet.

[luxury]

You're welcome Ethel :)

I thought this was worth sharing on here.

xxx

[andy-hughes]

Even more amazing - thank you for the background.

[cruella]

This is a reply written by a Nurse.



A Nurses reply - - by Liz Hogben

What do we see, you ask, what do we see?
Yes, we are thinking when looking at thee
We may seem to be hard when we hurry and fuss
But there's many of you and too few of us.

We would like far more time to sit by you and talk
To bath you and feed you and help you to walk
To hear of your lives and the things you have done
Your childhood, your husband, your daughter, your son.

But time is against us, there's too much to do -
Patients too many and nurses too few
We grieve when we see you so sad and alone
With nobody near you, no friends of your own
We feel all your pain, and know of your fear
That nobody cares now your end is so near.

But nurses are people with feelings as well
And when we're together you'll often hear tell
Of the dearest old Gran in the very end bed
And the lovely old Dad and the things that he said
We speak with compassion and love, and feel sad
When we think of your lives and the joy that you've had.

When the time has arrived for you to depart
You leave us behind with an ache in our heart
When you sleep the long sleep, no more worry or care
There are other people, and we must be there
So please understand if we hurry and fuss
There are many of you and too few of us!!

Liz Hogben