The Pain of Nursing Home Placement

© 2009 Ulrich Joho, Flickr | CC-BY-SA | via Wylio
Maybe it’s shame
Maybe it’s fear
Maybe it’s acknowledgement
That the end is near.
*****
Maybe it’s the halls
The impersonal room
That looks and feels
Like a living tomb.
*****
Maybe it’s the money
$500 a day
Eating retirement
And inheritance away.
*****
Maybe it’s the crowd
Of lonely souls
Who have death
As their only goal.
*****
Maybe it’s hurt
And maybe it’s the pain
That she doesn’t even
Remember your name.
*****
Maybe it’s the smell
Of those dying
That permeates the rooms
Of those left lying
*****
In beds so cold
While TVs fill
The hours and minutes
They’re trying to kill.
*****
Maybe it’s the inadequacy
You feel inside
That she cared for you
And now you can’t provide
*****
She birthed you
And nursed you
But you can’t reciprocate
And see this through.
*****
You tell yourself
“The staff is great”
And it’s true
There’s no debate.
*****
“This is for the best”
You have to say
Again it’s true
But it feels so grey.
*****
It’s hard and painful
And pricks the guilt syndrome
When you put a loved one
In a nursing home.
This entry was posted by Caleb Wilde on April 30, 2015 at 9:06 pm, and is filed under Dying Well, Verse. Follow any responses to this post through RSS 2.0.You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.