I sit in a fire lit room
Listening to the sound of grandfather sleep
Every Sunday, with my brother I would walk to church
And hear the choir sing
Walk home down the lanes
Pull flowers, make daisy chains
I’d look up at my mother and smile
She would bend right down on one knee
Pull me close, so there was just her and me
And whisper One day, all of these old people will go
She said it’s just a fact of life
Listen, so one day you too will be wise
Because one day, all of the old people will go
Then I heard the Doctor speak
“There was no pain, now he’s at peace”
From the corner, my grandmother cried
He was all, she’d ever had in her life
I glanced across at my mother and sighed
she, came over to me
Said grandpa passed last night in his sleep
And whispered
Remember, one day all of the old people will go!
all of the old people will go
The black, in mother’s hair turned grey
The blue in her eyes now washed away
I no longer fit on her knee
Those arms that cradled me now frail and weak
What was happening all around me ?
The world was aging at my feet!
She kissed me on the forehead and before she found her peace
Said remember those words I told you
Back when you were young and sweet
And it happened again, and again, and again
One minute I was young and carefree playing with my friends
But then I turned around, and realise I was all alone
And the words echo in my head
One day all the old people will go
Walking through the town I grew up
Cars, where once was cart and horse
Walk on past the church, where mother and grandfather lay
And now it collects my friends too
Every waking day, my bones more tired
and in this world more change
But I don’t know what I’m to do
Sometimes when I’m home all alone
I sit by the fire, amidst the embers glow
And wonder where did all the old people go?
Faded photo’s so their face I still see
In my dreams, they still talk to me
And whisper one day, all the old people will go
All the old people will go
My Brothers obituary lands at my feet
He was born when I was fourteen
Placed it neatly on the side
Stare at myself in the mirror and cried
Pull the black hat from its box
The smell of lily’s fill the air
Pull his shirt to my face, close my eyes and he is here
Open them again but there was nobody there
And it happens again, and again and again
One minute you’re surrounded by loved ones, family and friends
Gathered in the church yard, still surrounded by loved ones, but all alone
Remembering the fact that one day all of the old people will go!