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!!

About the Author

When an old 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 old lady's sole bequest to posterity has since appeared
in the Christmas edition of the NewsMagazine 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"....

PAGE DEDICATION

To My Friends

Jim & Scotty

Thank you for sending this to me to make a page out of it.

FROM THE HEART OF ANGEL

I have included the message about the author of this poem that was in the email that I received.
Seeing that there was not a name included in it then I can't put the proper copyright on it and do
not know for sure if it is authentic. However, it does give us some food for thought and remember
that everyone has a heart and it can easily be broken in a split second. Be wise and choose the
correct words that you say to one another. This particular story touched me because I used
to be a nurse's aide and often wondered what was running through the minds of some of my
patients. Some would tell us workers some of the things that happened in their lives and it was just
simply amazing. So remember to be willing to listen and also remember that our elderly should be
respected, they have been through a whole lot more than we have.