The Solitary Old Man
He sat by the beach, aged with years
Lonely, bereft of love you could see
The haggard dismayed look, lined furrowed cheeks
Sunken eyes half hid with once crowning lashes
Eyebrows once busy and black, now silver lined
Gaps in the hollow mouth toothless, receding
Behind the once muscular jaws now protruding
Like stiff sticks unable to hold the cheekbones
Quietly staring into the dark depths of the dark waters
Unfathomable;
Not a soul beside him … I perched myself by his side
Spreading a loving arm around his shoulders
A tear ran down his cheek
I let him cry freely as the cheeks got flooded.
After a pause he spoke between hiccups
His wife passed away suddenly leaving him
In the care of their son
Finally one day he married and then began
Remote control
The house taken away, pension gone
Nowhere to turn to… but the old age home
Sitting by the river remembering the good old days
He suddenly got up
Walked now straight no longer desperate or sad
A shadow of light passed through him
And then … much to my horror
Before I could hold him
He fell as if a tree cut off from the very branch
He had risen to flourish and support.
~Shobha Diwakar
Jabalpur, India
Old age brings not only frustration but a terrible loneliness…the worst enemy of all living beings. You have presented a simple truth in a beautiful way.