tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4904219782540965444.post2807831437599961387..comments2024-03-14T04:06:54.124-04:00Comments on GENKAKU-AGAIN (adam fisher): wasting timegenkakuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12135705172119950326noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4904219782540965444.post-69626942271470142502011-08-17T10:17:48.114-04:002011-08-17T10:17:48.114-04:00Serendipitously, or perhaps not, this poem was inc...Serendipitously, or perhaps not, this poem was included in an email I received this morning. It was allegedly written by an old man who died in a geriatric ward in Australia and left "nothing" behind:<br /><br /><strong>Cranky Old Man<br /><br />What do you see nurses? . . . . .What do you see?<br />What are you thinking . . . . . when you're looking at me?<br />A cranky old man, . . . .. .not very wise,<br />Uncertain of habit .. . . . . . . . with faraway eyes?<br /><br />Who dribbles his food ... . .. . . . . and makes no reply.<br />When you say in a loud voice . . . . .. 'I do wish you'd try!'<br />Who seems not to notice . . . . .the things that you do.<br />And forever is losing . . . . . . . . . . A sock or shoe?<br /><br />Who, resisting or not .. . . . . . . . . . . lets you do as you will,<br />With bathing and feeding . . . . . .The long day to fill?<br />Is that what you're thinking? . . . . . . Is that what you see?<br />Then open your eyes, nurse . . . . . . you're not looking at me.<br /><br />I'll tell you who I am . . . . . . . As I sit here so still,<br />As I do at your bidding, . . . . . . as I eat at your will.<br />I'm a small child of Ten . . . . . . . with a father and mother,<br />Brothers and sisters .. . . . . . . . who love one another<br /><br />A young boy of Sixteen . . . . . with wings on his feet<br />Dreaming that soon now . . . . ... ... . a lover he'll meet<br />A groom soon at Twenty . . . . ... . . my heart gives a leap.<br />Remembering, the vows .. . . . . . that I promised to keep.<br /><br />At Twenty-Five, now . . . . . ... . I have young of my own.<br />Who need me to guide . . . . And a secure happy home.<br />A man of Thirty . . . . . . . . . My young now grown fast,<br />Bound to each other . . . . . . . With ties that should last.<br /><br />At Forty, my young sons .. . . . . have grown and are gone,<br />But my woman is beside me . . . . . . . to see I don't mourn.<br />At Fifty, once more, . . ... . . . ..Babies play 'round my knee,<br />Again, we know children . . . . . . . My loved one and me.<br /><br />Dark days are upon me . . . . . . ... . My wife is now dead.<br />I look at the future ... .. . . . . . . . . . . . I shudder with dread.<br />For my young are all rearing . . . . . . young of their own.<br />And I think of the years . . .. .. . . . And the love that I've known.<br /><br />I'm now an old man . . . . .. . . . and nature is cruel.<br />It's jest to make old age . . . . .. . . look like a fool.<br />The body, it crumbles .. . . . ... . . . . .. grace and vigour, depart.<br />There is now a stone .. . . . . .. . where I once had a heart.<br /><br />But inside this old carcass . . . .. A young man still dwells,<br />And now and again . . . .. . . . my battered heart swells<br />I remember the joys . . . . . . . . . .. . I remember the pain.<br />And I'm loving and living . . . . .. . . . .. . . . . life over again.<br /><br />I think of the years . all too few . . .. . . . gone too fast.<br />And accept the stark fact . . . . . . . . that nothing can last.<br />So open your eyes, people . . . . . . . . open and see.<br />Not a cranky old man . Look closer . . . . see . .. . . .... . ME!!</strong>genkakuhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12135705172119950326noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4904219782540965444.post-35723348075420822572011-08-17T09:07:10.806-04:002011-08-17T09:07:10.806-04:00My favorite Shaw quote is, "Don't quote&q...My favorite Shaw quote is, "Don't quote". Perhaps that bit of zen touches on why he was one of the greatest minds I've ever read.olcharliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00309255390011851502noreply@blogger.com