CRABBY OLD MAN
Posted: 10 Oct 2010, 20:06
Crabby Old Man
When an old man died in the geriatric ward of a nursing home in North Platte, Nebraska, 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. The quality and content so impressed the staff, that copies were made and distributed to every nurse in the hospital.
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.
This little old man, with nothing left to give to the world, is now the author of this 'anonymous' poem winging across the internet:
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 a shoe
Who, resisting or not.....................................Let's 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 boy of Sixteen...................................With wngs 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
At 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
Dark days are upon me....................................My wife is now dead
I look at the future.........................................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 vigor 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
Remember this peom when you next meet an older person who you might brush aside, without looking at the young soul within. We will all, one day, be there too!
When an old man died in the geriatric ward of a nursing home in North Platte, Nebraska, 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. The quality and content so impressed the staff, that copies were made and distributed to every nurse in the hospital.
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.
This little old man, with nothing left to give to the world, is now the author of this 'anonymous' poem winging across the internet:
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 a shoe
Who, resisting or not.....................................Let's 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 boy of Sixteen...................................With wngs 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
At 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
Dark days are upon me....................................My wife is now dead
I look at the future.........................................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 vigor 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
Remember this peom when you next meet an older person who you might brush aside, without looking at the young soul within. We will all, one day, be there too!