Maybe Now We Will Now Understand ???

Question

When an elderly lady died in the geriatric ward of a small hospital near
Dundee, Scotland, 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 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."


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 husband'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!!
anonymous

Answer 1

iM GLAD YOU SEE IT TOO YOU THE BEST UVE TOUCHED MY THOUGHTS WHERE I THOUGHT NOBODY WILL EVER REACH

Answer 2

I have seen this poem before! I work in a company that provides caregivers to mostly senior citizens and have tried to find it again.
Thank you so much for sharing! I am going to copy it so I can pass it out to my workers. We all need to remember that the senior citizens in our lives passed through youth and middle age to get there!

Answer 3

Thank you for posting this. It lets everyone be it caregivers or those recieving care. It is an incredible poem.

Answer 4

so touching ... makes me think about the old lady i fed while volunteering at a local hospital...

Answer 5

wow, that was great, thank you so much for sharing...the folks in the poetry section of answers would love this....

Answer 6

So true. Beautiful, sad and touching.

Answer 7

thanks for sharing it ,touched my soul