Look Closer - See Me
  What do you see, nurse, what do you see?
 Are you thinking when you look at me
 A crabby old woman, not very wise,
 Uncertain of habit, with far-away 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, unresisting or not, lets you do as you will,
 With bathing and feeding, the long day to fill.
 Is that what you are 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 use 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 16 with wings on her feet,
 Dreaming that soon now a lover she'll meet;
 A bride soon at 20 -- my heart gives a leap
 Remembering the vows that I promise to keep.;
 At 25 now I have a young son of my own,
 Who needs me to build a secure, happy home;
 A woman at 30, my young now grow fast,

 Bound to each other by ties that should last.
 At 40, my young sons have grown and have gone,
 But my man's still beside me to see I don't mourn;
 At 50 once more babies play 'round my knee.
 Again we know children, my husband and me.
 Dark days are upon me, my husband is dead;
 I look to the future and shudder with dread.
 For my young are still rearing young of their own.
 And I think of the years and the love that I've known.

 I'm an old woman now and nature is cruel ---
 'Tis her jest to make old age look like a fool.
 The body crumbles, grace and vigor depart,
 There is now a stone where there once was 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 with stark fact that nothing can last.

 So open your eyes, nurses, open and see,
 Not a crabby old woman, look closer -- see me.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

This writing was found in the bedside drawer of a geriatric patient who passed away in a San Diego hospital.
It appeared in the Kansans for Life Newsletter, a publication dedicated  to  the protection and dignity of life for the unborn, infirm, and aged.
Back