Who Will Care For You?

Who Will Care For You?

The old man sits and relaxes in his chair all day,
His nurse strolls past, but has nothing to say.
Once in a while, drool forms at the corner of his lips,
No one talks to him; he’s in and out of this.

To him it’s cold outside, even though it’s mid May.
Snow covers the ground, yet the sun shines each day.
When his mind drifts away, or isn’t thinking of snow.
It dwells on dark and dank life, living down below.

He sees the world quite differently than you and I do,
Lives inside his mind, unable to learn anything new.
There’s a glazed look to his eyes that scares people nearby,
They don’t know what to think, about this crazy old guy.

He seems to have forgotten it all, how to live life fully,
Yet in his mind he remembers, a family love so truly.
All his thoughts are centered on things he once knew,
When he was a young man; and everything was so new,

But as he got older; he forgot so many things,
He’s lost so much, yet to even more he still clings.
He rarely responds when someone says, “Hi!”
With the ringing in his ears, can’t hear, can’t reply.

His mind is very active, he sees memories from years past.
Remembers his first car, first kiss, it all goes by so fast.
People come and go; he talks to them once in a while.
Never recognizes any of them, they all say he’s senile.

This is the curse of Alzheimer’s, or maybe something more,
It takes your mind someplace, where you can’t find the door.
Sometimes, with it comes the palsy, the shaking of the hands,
The body becomes frail, it’s so hard to be strong, and stand.

Poor Ed can’t remember, that the nurse is his loving wife,
Doesn’t recognize his kids, has no memories of their life.
Once in a while he’ll come around, those times are precious few.
When he talks to them a little, but loses concentration anew.

They take their turns caring for him, he’s never left alone,
His lives his life in his mind, it’s there that he is home.
They love caring for him, it seems to make them glad,
He’s always safe with them, after all, he is… their Dad.

Jim Dorrell
11/16/10