[guide.chat] :{ Sheila } :Fw: CRABBY OLD MAN
- From: "Keith Wines" <keith.wines@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "guide chat" <guide.chat@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 22 Apr 2011 00:17:49 +0100
: Fw: CRABBY OLD MAN
Subject: FW: CRABBY OLD MAN
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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
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 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.
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 another.
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.
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 poem 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!
PLEASE SHARE THIS POEM
The best and most beautiful things of this world
can't be seen or touched. They must be felt by the heart.
God Bless All who read this Poem
and send it to those on
"YOUR"
mailing list
---------------------------------------------------------------
No virus found in this incoming message.
Other related posts:
- » [guide.chat] :{ Sheila } :Fw: CRABBY OLD MAN - Keith Wines
