A poem on Aging

What do you see nurse,
What do you see?
What 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;
Then 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.

Unresisting or not,
Lets you do as you will;
With bathing or feeding,
The long day to fill.
Is that what you're 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 move at your bidding,
As I eat at your will.

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

A girl of sixteen,
With wings on her feet;
Dreaming that soon,
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,
I have young of my own,
Who need me to build
A secure and happy home.

A woman of thirty,
My young now grow fast,
Bound together with ties
That forever should last.

At forty, my young ones
Have grown up and gone;
But my man is beside me
To see I don't mourn.

At fifty, once more ...
Babies play 'round my knees;
Again we know children,
My loved ones and me.

Dark days are upon me,
My husband is dead ...
I look at the future,
I shudder with dread;
For my young are all rearing,
Young of their own,
And I think of the years
And the love I have known.

I am an old woman now,
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 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 the stark fact
That nothing can last.

So open your eyes nurses,
Open and see ...
Not a "Crabbit Old Woman,"
Look closer ... see "Me."

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found while stumbling.

A Little Inspiration

People are often unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered;
Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives;
Be kind anyway.
If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies;
Succeed anyway.
If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you;
Be honest and frank anyway.
What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight;
Build anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous;
Be happy anyway.
The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow;
Do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough;
Give the world the best you've got anyway.
You see, in the final analysis, It is between you and God;
It never was between you and them anyway.

Author Unknown
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found while stumbling.

Bane of the guardian

The guardian is strong,
the guardian is wise,
the guardian is kind,
but only to others.

The guardian bears all,
the guardian abandons none,
the guardian will stay,
and he will never run.

Silently the guardian shall suffer,
and all is done willingly,
for he can be none other,
than the one he shall always be.

Choose not to be the guardian,
for his bane you cannot bear,
your shoulders will break under the strain,
of continued sadness and despair.

Will I be forgiven

If I closed my eyes with my sins,
would I be forgiven tomorrow?
If I never have strayed,
Could I have been better?
If my wrongs humble me,
Would I be humble if I am proud of it?
In the end there is only hope,
Hope for a never ending mercy

When you are in control

Time flows by me like a river,
and I try my best to make sense,
of all the things I can ponder,
to all the thing I can barely glance.

I do agree it is beautiful,
all the array of colors,
but sometimes it's more than a mouthful,
...

Oh man,
I can't write nuthing...
Mind drawing blanks...

'If'

Found this while stumbling at 'http://torch.cs.dal.ca/~johnston/poetry/if.html'

'If'

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings - nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a man, my son!

Rudyard Kipling

The lightning

We were born in the darkness,
And saw nothing around us,
We did not care for what is out there,
For we did not know anything existed.

Then came the lightning,
For a brief moment there was light,
We saw ourselves, where we are, and what we could be,
We saw hope and we saw opportunity.

Then as soon as it came it disappeared,
And we plummeted again into the darkness,
But our heart never did,
For in that brief moment it has changed.

For that brief moment we saw the future,
For that brief moment we had relief,
For that brief moment we were happy,
For that brief moment we learned to hope.

And so the darkness brought despair,
And with it loneliness,
For finally we couldn't bear,
Being in the darkness.

A life pass by

I see a life pass by,
dragging by the hour,
and isn't funny he complains,
he has no time.

Thinking of nothing

Thinking of nothing is so hard to do,
With all the things I'm going through,
mygosscon, fuesb and st too,

To dream

I have a dream,
But that dream is so far away...

Waking from slumber

The giant is slowly waking up,
the threat is looming great,
in it's shadow fear shall reign.

The corner

I look down on to the road,

And see the way that I could go,

How nice if I could see,

What is behind the corner.

I look down on to the path,

And see where I have been,

I might have gone a different way,

If I had seen behind the corner.

I look down on to the trail,

It makes me feel old and frail,

When I think of how I have failed,

Because of what's behind the corner.

But I cannot see behind the corner,

And so to God I must turn,

He will protect and guide me,

From what's behind the corner.

Heart of the champion

Through the dust and smoke,
He emerges from chaos,
All that came before him was subdued.

To his right and to his left,
Other men fought with fear,
But courage was his attitude.

Most men fought so as not to lose,
He fought so that he would win,
Perfect example of fortitude.

He is their champion,
He is their winner,
There is no other substitute.

Taking risks..

Found while stumbling at http://www.iamthewitness.com/Risks.html

RISK
Author unknown

To laugh is to risk appearing the fool.
To weep is to risk appearing sentimental.
To reach out to others is to risk involvement.
To expose feelings is to risk exposing your true self.
To place your ideas, your dreams before a crowd is to risk their loss.
To love is to risk not being loved in return.
To live is to risk dying.
To hope is to risk despair.
To try is to risk failure.

But risks must be taken,
because the greatest hazard in life is to do nothing.

The person who risks nothing,
does nothing, has nothing, and is nothing.

They may avoid suffering and sorrow,
but they cannot learn, feel, change, grow, love, live.

Chained by their attitudes, they are a slave,
they forfeited their freedom.

Only the person who risks can be free

The cat once said to the dragon..

With all your strength and your breath,
It means nothing if you need to catch a mouse.

The days are long..

Oh how the days are long,
so much work,
so little time,
so short on energy.

Oh how the days are long,
so much sacrifice,
so little gained,
so few appreciate.

Oh how the days are long,
so tiresome is the path,
so lonesome is the road,
and in the dust I rest.

Sorry..

If I could give meaning to the words,
I am sorry,
What meaning would those words be?

If I could put value to the words,
I am sorry,
What value would those words be?

If I could say with all my heart,
I am sorry,
Would that mean anything to me?

Yesterday has past,
Tomorrow has not yet come,
Let me live for today.

Bring a change

Do you not want to bring a change?
Something that will make things better?
Do you not want to give meaning?
To some things which are important to you?

Then bring a change,
Be that force which shapes things,
You can do it I know,
Because you have changed too...

The grumpy old man

Why, back in my days..
Says the grumpy old man,
So he says about the days,
When he was young.

Why, back in my days..
Says the grumpy old man,
The world was a better place,
When he was young.

Why, back in my days..
Says the grumpy old man,
The people were nicer,
When he was young.

Why, back in my days..
Says the grumpy old man,
There was not much worry and suffering,
When he was young.

Why, back in my days..
Says the grumpy old man,
I would not stand for this,
When he was young.

I am young...

End of the light

I feel so tired,
Like I can't go on,
But go on I must,
If for nothing else, just myself.

One day I will take the stand,
And what will I say then?
Have I done my best?
Did I pass the test?

Oh surely I would regret then,
If I gave up now,
So no matter how I fall,
I'll stand up again.

Though tears may fill my eyes,
And sorrow drown my heart,
And weariness eats my soul,
I will take that stand, mercy...

I win

I think there are things which I should be,
But when I look at me I am not,
And yet when I stop to think I am happy,
I win.

There are some things which upset me,
Painful and bitter they are,
But as I accept them patiently,
I win.

If you say to me "Something is wrong with this world",
Hard for me to say "You're wrong",
But as life take it's turn and twirl,
I win.

I may be better than no one,
And yet I race on in life,
Because at the end of the line I know,
I win.

The impossible dream

Sometimes I dream of the impossible dream,
Grand in it's majesty and awesome is it's nature,
Then I wake up...

What a lovely sight

So early in the morning and you are already awake,
Cheerfully playing with whatever you have,
Seeing you happy brings delight to my heart,
What a lovely sight.

Your little sister is soon awake too,
As no one give attention she cries for some,
And full of concern you go to her,
Play with her and stop her tears,
What a lovely sight.

To be able to carry such lovely sight in my heart,
Truly I am blessed.

The foe within

Oh what a way to go,
To be constantly unhappy,
This it shouldn't be,
But if not for the foe within.

Looking at others with envy,
Grudging at what might be,
The failure is here you see,
But if not for the foe within.

State of content

Are you happy with your work?

There is the beauty

You will not see the beauty of patience,
Till you have seen the ugliness of haste,
You will not see the beauty of perseverance,
Till you have seen the ugliness of hopelessness,
You will not see the beauty of me,
Till you have seen how ugly I really am.

It is my own fault

There is no doubt about it,
I have to be strong about it,
That whatever happens to us,
It is a choice we have made,
Some time ago.

There is no doubt about it,
I have to fully accept it,
That how bleak things may seem,
It was not always so,
And the sun may yet rise tomorrow.

There is no doubt about it,
I have to live by it,
Without knowledge and without guide,
I've chosen this path in life,
And that path is my choice.

I look to one who will show me love,
And guide me in all my life,
From my waking moment till I rest,
Forever I partake my peace.

So much passed, so little gained

How sad is the life of one who sees the world pass him by,
and yet by his inaction he gets nothing.

How sad is the life of one who has everything coming to him,
and yet by his laziness it all slips away.

How sad is the life on one who has nothing but good,
and yet he still strive for what is bad.

Oh how sad.

Change your spirit,
For you can change your life.
And if you can't do that,
Then no one can do it for you.

How sad...

The old me

Where is the old me?
The person I used to be,
The one who I might respect,
Maybe even like a little,
Where is he?

Where is the old me?
One so innocent and naive,
Looking at a world full of adventure,
And tales that go on forever,
Full of dreams and life,
Where can he be?

Where is the old me?
When he speaks it is only truth,
When he smiles it is sincere,
When he laughs the world laughs with him,
Trials and error matter not to him,
I cannot find him anymore.

I do not know where he is,
Be he still alive or is completely dead,
When in the mirror I might see him again,
If not for the monster there....

Alone in the night

What a night it has been,
Cool and dark and still,
My eyes are tired,
My fingers are heavy,
To sleep I am very keen.

What a night it has been,
To think of things to think off,
To dream with my eyes open,
To see what has never been seen,
And all that from a night which has been.

What a night it has been,
Alone here I type,
About this night,
Which has been,
Like the night before,
And forever more...