CRABBY OLD MAN

  CRABBY OLD MAN


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 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 ............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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The best and most beautiful things of  this world can't be seen or touched. They must be felt by the heart.  God Bless.

GROWING OLD IS NOT FOR SISSIES!

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