Crabby Old Man (1 Viewer)

ProStockJunkie

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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, when the nurses were going through his meagre 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 a 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 what you're 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 s oon at twenty .....my heart gives a leap.
Remembering, the vows......that I promised to keep.

At twentyfive, 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 carcase ...... 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..
 
This has hung in my office for years and it may be old and yellowed but I truly believe in the sentiment:

"How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving and tolerant of the weak and strong. Because someday in your life you will have been all of these" - George Washington Carver
 
I guess I'd better print out a copy and put it in plastic for we are only given a healthy today and I ain't no spring chicken.
I'm generally a nice guy and only cuss inanimate objects occasionally.
My grandmother lived to be 99 and in her last years even though she was a devout Pentecostal she ended up cussing like a sailor when she got mad usually at the staff in the nursing home.

Funny I only remember a kind woman who was the best cook in the county.
Her put up can goods were valued and traded for sometimes two for one.
I have a couple of the old ones left besides my mother then I will be the old generation.
I was raised to respect my elders and I always preach the same and tell the youngsters see those old people , they have a lifetime of experience and stories.
Thanks Jackee
 
Well, it's ok for some I guess, but I'll never get over "Like A Rock", Bob Segar. That's an anthem as a man gets older.

"I was sumptin to see, like a rock."

It was never about a Chevy truck, GM.
 
Well, it's ok for some I guess, but I'll never get over "Like A Rock", Bob Segar. That's an anthem as a man gets older.

"I was sumptin to see, like a rock."

It was never about a Chevy truck, GM.
"Stood there boldly..sweatin in the sun..

Felt like a million..felt like number 1"

I hear ya Bob
 
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