Scenes from a Nursing Home Part 4

By PAUL C and Katpurrs

Early evening in the lounge.

Henry liked to wheel through the halls
Asking those he'd meet to feel his balls.
If you ignored him he'd scream "Hey, didn't anyone hear me?"
The nurse would say, "You must speak more clearly."

Beneath her blanket, thinking she was hiding her shame,
Wanda's fingers would move as they played their game.
The blanket would shake with a life of it's own.
She'd suddenly shudder and let out with a moan.

Mary would tell them again and again
How she had been a star in her youth.
They'd smile and whisper and turn their heads,
"She never could tell the truth."

Susan and Jill were not speaking today,
Something had been brought up from their past.
They'd sit side by side ignoring each other,
Who's affair was it that didn't last?

Did Susan love Roger or did Roger love Jill?
So long ago anyway.
He's dead now and they have only each other.
You'd hope they'd have more to say.

For eighty years they'd been best friends.
The only ones left from their class.
Now Roger and David and Henry and Paul
Were just memories fading into the past.

With the memories of the dead,
Lost loves and pain,
Their lives were gone,
Only life remained.

Life spent sitting in a chair.
Running their fingers through their hair.