Sister’s Poem

My sister took the famous poem "A Crabbit Old Woman" (by anon) some years ago and made some changes to it, so it reads about my Dad. It makes me cry whenever I read it because it has some of his personal history in it, just to tell people and so that people can understand who he 'was' and really still is, although they may not see it.

It’s a long one, but here it is, I've left out the beginning parts that are pretty much the same as the original...

Shell of a Man

I'm a small child of ten,
With a father and mother,
Nine brothers and sisters,
Who love one another.

A young man of sixteen,
With wings on my feet,
Dreaming of a career and,
The wife I will meet.

A groom at twenty one,
My heart gives a leap,
Gazing at my new wife,
Making promises to keep.

At twenty-nine now I have children,
Three of my own,
Who need me to provide,
A secure happy home.

A still young man of forty,
My children growing fast,
Bound to us and each other,
With ties that will last.

At fifty my children,
Have grown and are gone,
But my wife is beside me,
Work keeps me too busy to mourn.

At fifty-five once more,
Babies play on my knee,
Again we know children,
My loved one and me.

For my young are all raising,
Young of their own,
I dream of life to come,
And the years that we've known.

**************************

Small changes, mistakes,
Thoughts no longer clear
Illogical logic,
Herald an unspoken fear.

Dark days are upon me,
Our future dreams dead,
I think of the life we had planned,
I shudder with dread.

Too young, I grow old,
And nature is cruel,
'Tis brutal to make such intelligence,
Look like a fool.

My mind twists and crumbles,
Vigour and grace depart,
Noone can hear my thoughts,
Know that I still have a heart.

But inside this old carcass,
The young boy still dwells,
And every now and then,
My battered heart swells.

Though I cannot speak it,
I remember the joys and pain,
In my mind I am living,
Life over again.

Please think of those years,
All too few, gone to fast,
And accept the stark fact,
That nothing can last.

So open your eyes people,
Open and see,
Not a shell of a man,
Look closer...see ME!!

(L.C.)

Written September 2005