The Man With The Teddy Poem by Catherine Casey

The man with the teddy
Stood six feet four,
Testosterone filled,
Hard set jaw.


Nobody laughed
As it swung on his belt.
A six-inch bear
With a cuddly pelt.


Only one time
Did somebody ask,
Braving the wrath
And taking to task.


*******


'Let everyone know
That this is my heart.-
A lesson on size
Before I depart.


For I was a bully
A brigand, a liar.
Imposing my will,
Pride burned as a fire.


I came to a house
To pillage and vent
My anger on someone -
An old village gent.


Unlike the others
He stayed in his place,
Looking with kindness,
A beam on his face.


'Take all you need
And come back for more.
What’s mine is yours,
Don’t knock on the door.


Come round on Tuesday
We’ll talk over tea.
Bring all your friends
He chuckled with glee'.


Knocking him down
He smiled back at me,
Not in a way of mocking
You see.


A real burning love
That wanted to care.
Eyes watered with longing,
My burdens to share.


I took all he had
And hurried then home.
A letter was waiting
Of disease in my bone.


That night I slept
Not before dwelling,
On values of life
And vanities telling.


On waking I gathered
All I had took.
Set back again,
No longer a crook.


His door was ajar
And nobody in.
On the table a message,
To whom? Next of kin.


An ambulance taken
Not sure what the cause is.
Collapsed on the floor -
Off to St George's.


Once on arrival
A nurse at reception
looked on a chart
And gave me direction.


A side room was waiting
The atmosphere tense.
A doctor was called.
I tried to make sense.


'We took him to heart
While he was living.
An extraordinary man
Given to giving'.


While he was living? '
I asked in surprise.
'That’s right, ' he answered,
'He died at sunrise'.


I slumped in the chair
Consumed with the thought.
To ask his forgiveness
Was the least I had sought.


He pulled out a package
Labelled, ‘Yesterday’s friend’.
He brought it in with him.
To whom shall I send? '


'I’ll know by the verse
To whom it’s intended'.
(Though I knew in my heart
‘Twas me he befriended) .


The doctor read
The note inside.
I wondered what
The box might hide.


'In case my friend
Should call again.
I leave this gift
So small but plain.


I hoped to learn,
Perhaps to teach,
His restless soul,
His heart to reach.


A token, an offering
Of peace and hope.
A simple toy,
A fire to stoke'.


*******


I wear this gift of his, -
A paradox of change.
Taking on contentment,
I’ve found a whole new range.


A lesson in humility
Driven now by sense.
The values of a kindly man,
His earnest recompense'.