A wish is finally granted

When we were well and active

With well trained listening ears

The phone was always ringing

Week on week, for many years

Then, disaster stuck our bodies

Illness entered through our door

For many years we’ve had to battle

And could do little more

The phone is now mostly quiet

We usually sit and eat alone

Keeping each other company

Our time is all our own

We have become used to the solitude

Easily fill our waking hours

With reading, writing, TV sport

The garden with its flowers

Although we still welcome

Occasional visitors to our door

We no longer have the energy

To invite them, as before

Buying extra food, making beds

Is a mountain, just too high

To climb, without assistance

Though we would like to try

Our dear family live at a distance

Working hard and long

We are always welcome

But, alas, we are not strong

They visit when they are able

We savour that time with joy

But, we didn’t have our children

In our old age to employ

But, we are very fortunate

We are still together

Though we must stay indoors, we

Chat and laugh despite the weather

Fifty years have quickly passed

Our vows seem far away

‘For better for worse’, has been tested

But remains just as strong today

But, if I sit and really think

Back in time, all that we wanted

Was to spend our days, alone, together

Now, at last that wish is granted

True, it’s not as we expected

Quite restricted, with little choice

But we are blessed to have this time

And still hear each other’s voice

Poems from 'Twilight Years' by Audrey Coatesworth

Copyright A Coatesworth March 2013