Abandoned Wanderer

A Poem by Write4theSky

One Old Man

One Old Man,
Unable to control the tremors,
Fights to only keep his voice steady.
He tells us that she is not yet gone.
Frantically searching the three generations present,
His body language beseeches us
Not to forget her. He has to believe
She lives
In our hearts.
Even if he dies, and his children die,
The grandchildren must keep her alive.
Waves
Of emotion ripple through his body.
Old women, middle-aged men, young adults, and children
Wonder at the burden suddenly wedded to their shoulders.
We will all depart and at the same time remain for a period.
It is the harsh position of no longer living,
But still ensnared to ground by being remembered as so.
The old man shamefully crashes to a halt in words, and
Sees the people who know
He is lost.
We’re all saddened wanderers if not tied to one place
Or centered around something precious.
We resent that fact and the example present:
Abandoned man.
Soon the service is ended, condolences are doled,
And the old man drives home to a house
That will be empty for the rest of his life.