Thursday, 2 May 2013

A Visit to Yesteryear




Sweet Surrender
I visit a sweet little old lady in a  nursing home.  She is my "Jessica Tandy" (for those of you that have watched the movie "Fried Green Tomatoes"). This adorable lady does not have the kind of dramatic background that Jessica Tandy relates in her story but she is certainly no less captivating or any less lovable.  

She sits  in her padded armchair     
Swaying gently back and forth
Frail, fragile, and pathetic
As soft moans haunt each breath 
She pleads not to be left alone .
Alone in a bleak world.
Alone with her memories

“No, don’t leave yet,” she implores me 
Her feeble voice quivers, weak, 
A poignant mixture of sadness, hope
Forlorn, forgotten, forsaken
Her eyes are pools of aged longing
And her plaintive pleading spears my heart.


“But you look tired, you need to rest Dear.”
I search to find the gentle words
To dispel  rejection, disown indifference 
And I make a promise I aim to keep
“I’ll come back later, when you have rested.
It won’t be long, so rest my dear.”

Slowly, painfully, but with resolve.
She moves her head from side to side
 “Oh I’m just fine, I'll rest later.”
She strains to raise her sagging form.
A valiant effort of ageless endurance
Against the onslaught of weighted years.

Declining health has sapped her vigor
But age has failed to quell a spirit
That just won’t falter or be stilled.

So I sit back down and we reminisce
Of carefree days so long now gone.

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