On Death

and the elderly

Apr 28, 2025

pink rose — Photo by Alexander Grey on Unsplash

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i see you almost every day

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alone

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struggling to walk

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i’ve never seen anyone visit you

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i’m one of the few you can talk too

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as i ask what you’d like to eat

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i know your breakfast order by heart

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the same thing every day

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you collect flowers

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i try to save the one from the old vases for you

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the smile on your face is worth it every time

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i have your lunch order memorized

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you love theatre

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you’ve told me about plays you’ve enjoyed

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you love singing

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you love performing

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you’ve invited me to your performances before

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i know your dinner order

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ive never been able to attend your performances

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you love biscotti

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you love beautiful flowers

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you had a dog named abby once

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you had a wife once, too

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you hum songs long forgotten as you walk

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as you sit

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as you wait

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wait

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wait

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for what

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what do the elderly wait for

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we lock them up

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shove them away into large buildings

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we should be taking care of our elderly

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not pushing them away

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family is one of the few things we have left

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families should take care of their own

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i have a coworker

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from bolivia

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she says that in her country

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the elderly are honored

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respected

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taken care of

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cherished

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what happened here?

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the other day you didn’t show up to breakfast

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or lunch

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or dinner

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i found out recently that you passed on

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no one even seemed to notice

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or care that you were gone

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but i did

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i notice

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no longer will I save the flowers for you

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no longer will we have long conversations about theater

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no longer will we repeat the same conversations

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over and over because you forget that we’ve already had them

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no longer will I see your smile

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and my heart

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s h  a   t    t     e      r        s

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then a new resident arrives

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and the cycle begins anew

…

I work in an assisted living facility, and this poem is based off of a couple of residents that I work with. Everything in it has happened to some extent, I just combined a couple of stories and residents that I've known.

The main reason I wrote this is that our society is so adverse and cold towards the elderly. Working with them and just being around them for so long has given me a new insight to their experiences and struggles.

I hope you enjoyed (or maybe didn't, this is supposed to be kind of a sad poem)! If you did, consider tapping that like button to show your support. It only takes a second, and it helps us know that you guys are enjoying writing like this.

Maybe someday I'll write more about my experience as a teenage girl working in an assisted living facility. But for now, that's it from me.

On Death

and the elderly

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