"Excuse me young lady,"
I heard a voice say,
"Tell me what you see
When you look at me today?"
I said, "I see an old man,
Withered to the bone,
Walking down the street,
You seem so all alone.
A cane in your hand
Hearing aide in your ear,
Wrinkles upon your face,
Some whiskers to make a beard.
Your back is hunched over,
Your socks don't even match,
You had a bottle filled with water
In which the lid you didn't latch.
Now, I'll mention the wet pants,
The huge glasses upon your face,
It seems to me as tho you can't see,
and why you move in a turtle like pace."
The old man looked very sad
At all the things that I had said,
At that very moment in time,
I knew my comments I would dread.
The old man turned to me,
And without a single thought,
The words he spoke I'll never forget,
"You see me for what I am not."
My old heart still beats strong,
My legs go where I chose to tread,
Tho my eyes are not as good as
The eyes that I once had
My ears may need a little help,
Tho I can hear what people say,
May you remember what you thought of me
When you ask someone, someday.
We all grow old, in time we do,
Yet somehow, we remain the same.
The person who lives inside this soul
Has never really changed.
Someday you may ask someone what they see,
"An old woman," is what they might say,
But in your heart that won't be true,
Then you'll turn the other way.
Tears will fall at your sadness,
For who you are, they cannot see,
You may be old and a little worn,
Or even lonely you may seem to be.
Your back may hunch way over,
Glasses could rest upon your face,
Which may even be the reason for
Your slow and creeping pace.
Now, look at me young lady
Tell me what you see in me today,
I turned while crying and said to him,
"I see what God has made."
With his head hanging low,
I could see the teardrops fall,
He said in a silent voice to me,
"Thank you for seeing it all."
Copyright2004 Candy R. Glidden