That Old Man Poem by Ananta Madhavan

That Old Man



An old man hobbled into the park
And sat down on our bench.
He laid aside his crutch
And told us he felt fine;
Though he had been diagnosed
As both diabetic
And hypertensive.

He claimed to have told his doctor,
"Our blood and tears are both saline,
But life is sweet".

The doctor, who came later,
Told us the old man was his strangest case.
That limping grandpa had been weighed
And not found wanting.
He had kicked the weighing machine,
Then thrown down his crutch
And briskly stalked away, muttering,
'But Life is sweet".

Friday, October 31, 2014
Topic(s) of this poem: old age
POET'S NOTES ABOUT THE POEM
The compensatory feeling for life was a theme in my father's little read short novel of India, 'The Silver Pilgrimage' (NY,1961) .
COMMENTS OF THE POEM
Valsa George 01 November 2014

A phenomenal old man who reminds me of the protagonist of Earnest Hemingway's Old man and the Sea! He proclaims to the world.....'Man is not for defeat! A man can be destroyed, but not defeated'! Inspite of all his bodily infirmities, he has an indomitable will and the zest to live! I like the lines; Our blood and tears are both saline, But life is sweet.

0 0 Reply
READ THIS POEM IN OTHER LANGUAGES
Close
Error Success