He’s not old anymore.
The cares and chores
Of day to day life
Are beyond him now.
The latest news
On channel 5,
The calamities of this world
Are gone for good.
No more worrying about
Who’s doing what to whom.
No more frets about
What the neighbors think
Or what they do.
And no regrets about
The good ole days,
And how it used to be
When people had respect
And honor and love
For each other
And when did it get this way?
It’s all gone for him now.
All has passed away.
No more aching knees,
Or bone weary hands
From working too hard,
And too long,
On too many jobs,
To put food on the table
And clothes on their backs.
No more bills to pay.
No more waking at 3 AM
Lying there awake,
Remembering their life together
And missing her…
More than he ever thought he would,
Reaching out to her side of the bed
in the darkness
And not finding her there.
Alone.
Then whispering silent prayers
Up to the ceiling
Of the room they shared for so many years.
Then in the stillness
Putting his trust in the Lord
For the last time
For ……. ever.
Like fog that slips into
Nothingness on a sunny winter morning,
Finally, he is gone
To be with her again.
Where they are not sick
Or tired or worried,
And they are not old anymore.
©Joan Campbell
I wrote this poem for my father-in-law who died in September. When we notified his sister, her comment was that he was not old anymore. My husband asked me to use that thought in a poem for his father and so it was written and read at the memorial service. But in the bigger sense, the feelings when I wrote the poem came from my memories and thoughts about all my relatives and friends who have died who were just plain weary and tired of being sick and just old. My prayers are for those of us who remain for those who have passed are assuredly not old anymore.
Birding Boomers 
You captured it. May we all be so well loved when we depart this sphere. God bless.
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Glad you enjoyed it.
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This was a wonderful poem. When I lost my father, the first thing I thought was that he was now in his 30’s again. He’s a young man — younger that his daughter! Thanks for a great poem!
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You’re so welcome. I am glad that you liked it and hope you’ll check out my blogs in the future. I’m into posting about old churches right now but also do blogs on gardens and birds and nature in general.
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Beautiful Joan. That is so wonderful that you could come up with just the right thing to say. I did not know you wrote poetry, but according to the many other things you have written I’m not surprised.
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Yeah. I’ve written poetry off and on for many years. I occasionally post one as a blog. Glad you liked it.
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Beautiful!! May I share it?
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But, of course. I’m glad you liked it.
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