Look closer..see
me!
What do you
see, people? What do you see?
Are you thinking
when you are looking at me?
A crabbit 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 sock or a 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; 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 child
of ten with a father and mother
And 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 build a secure, happy home.
A woman of
thirty, my young now grow 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 "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 and shudder with dread
For my young
are rearing young of their own
And I think
of the years and 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, it
crumbles, grace and vigor depart
There is now
a stone where I once had a heart
But inside
this 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-done to fast
And accept
the stark fact that nothing can last.
So open your
eyes, people, open and see
Not a crabbit
old woman, look closer...see ME!
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