An Old Ladies Poem

[Minx]

I wanted to share this with all you ladies as I believe it's something worth remembering...

An old lady died in a small hospital near Dundee, Scotland, and
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!

[Angel]

Ah Minx! Ya went and tugged on my heart strings! While the tears trickle down my face, I thank you for posting this. It is truly beautiful and a magnificent look into the soul of an elderly person.
Thanks sweetie!

[mew]

Yeah I read that poem in one of the Chicken soup for the Soul series..I think it was a nurse at a retirement home that actually wrote that. Makes me appreciate i got to work in a home like that and meet the wonderful seniors.

[darksparkles]

that was wonderful... i'll have to remember that.

[*Nikki*]

That made me cry;(

[Plummie]

Thanks for sharing, Minx.

That was very poignant.

[sexymama]

A good reminder that we all need and want respect -- old and young. Thanks for sharing.