SHADY REST

It’s Sunday at the Shady Rest
He gets up early, wears his best
Grabs the walker by the wall
And shuffles down the yellowed hall
Some visitors were due to call

His son, the wife, and grandsons too
Were coming by, they seldom do
They’re busy folks and he knows that
But still they’re coming by to chat
Why they’d be here in nothing flat

He settles on the porch to wait
And thinks about the quirk of fate
That led him to be staying here
Away from folks that he holds dear
The ones he yearned so to be near

Two years ago his good wife died
Depressed and all torn up inside
He now was left to live alone
And forced to make it on his own
He struggled hard to get a grip
But then he fell and broke his hip

His son is coming through the gate
His youngest grandson too, but wait
There’s no sign of his good son’s mate
Nor did he see the older lad
He wouldn’t be here, never had

The old man gave his son a hug
While grandson sat down on the rug
And watched some old folks sitting there
Gazing on with vacant stare
They had no guests but didn’t care

The boy spies Mrs. Monahan
She’s playing checkers with her man
She plays all day and doesn’t know
He passed on thirty years ago
She’s talking to him even so

The old man’s son is doing well
He’s happy, the old man can tell
He talks about his life and laughs
He shows the latest photographs
An hour passes, maybe two
The talking stops as if on cue
There’s something now the son must do

He says the words that he must say
“Hey Dad, come home with us and stay
The boys can learn to share a bed”
He sees his grandson shake his head
He’d rather eat a snake instead

The old man says, “I’d better not
We better stay with what we’ve got
They’re much too big, a bed to share
I’d just be getting in your hair
And son, I need a lot of care”

The son says “Dad, I plan to take
You fishing soon down on the lake
I’ll buy the beer and bring the bait
We’ll have a swell time, just you wait”
The old man smiles “Well that sounds great”
Then shuffles with them to the gate

He blinks a tear and feigns a cough
A hug, a wave and then they’re off
The old man struggles back inside
With lowered head he tries to hide
His eyes so no one knows he cried

It’s bedtime here at Shady Rest
He lays, arms folded on his chest
He ponders now and tries to find
Some reason for his fate assigned
This fate that had been so unkind
To take his life and leave his mind