[Rhodes22-list] Crabby old man.

[R22RumRunner at aol.com]

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 ' anony mous' 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  ..............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 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! 




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