Len Webster's 'Life-Change' Poem by Len Webster

He grew old
worrying about being old
not expecting to reach
this age-old problem
and meet it head-on
thinking something
would be revealed
never expecting
to face the vacancy
in another's face
wondering where she had gone
when her body was still
breathing and twisted

he heard her words
felt her despair
tried to bring her out of it
with a foolish grin
pushed the chair
once she could get in
pointed out landmarks
in the hospital grounds
where many of his family died
held the mobile phone
for her to speak
and cry into the distant world
that was her home

he obeyed her will
took her there
accepted all she said
about life being unfair
waited as time picked on them
and made them late
in knowing they had grown old
suddenly
struck by the simple blockage
that dammed up the flow
and drowned them in its wake