Textured white walls stare back at me
As if to say let me be
Nothingness fills my room
Casting shadows of gloom and doom
Memories begin to fade
As I look back at the last decade

How did I get here, only time will tell
My body defined by only a shell
Older is not better, any fool knows that
Madison Avenue sells this crap
Wheelchairs and walkers, diapers and tubes
Constant reminders we’re all but through

Foul stench fills the air
Despite deodorizers to sanitize despair
Blank stares and vacant eyes
Hold stories within that would make one cry
Where did youth go and our dreams of revival
Now a stale memory as we fight for survival

Take heart my dear friends, as your day approaches
Be kind to your elders as nature encroaches
For the Good Book says we will be without sin
By our care and concern for the widow and shut-in
Look again, my friends, at the textured white walls
Older lives we touch beckons us all