Moral Stories and Lessons

What do you see, nurse, what do you see?
What are you thinking when you look at me?

A crabby old women, not very wise.
Uncertain of habit, with far away eyes,
Who dribbles her food, and makes not reply,
When you say in a loud voice, "I do wish you\'d try!\"

Who seems not to notice the things that you do,
And forever is losing a stocking or shoe.
Who, unresisting or not, lets you do as you will,
With bathing and feeding, the long day to fill.

Is that what you\'re thinking, is that what you see?
Then open your eyes, you\'re not looking at me.
I\'ll tell you who I am, as I sit here so still,
As I move at your bidding, as I eat at your will.

I am a small child of ten with a father and mother,
Brothers and sisters who love one another.
A bride soon at twenty, my heart gives a leap,
Remembering the vows that I promised to keep.

At twenty-five now I have young of my own,
Who needs me to build a secure, happy home.
A women of thirty, my young grow fast,
Bound to each other with ties that should last.

At fourty my young now soon will be gone,
But my man stays beside me to see I don\'t mourn.
At fifty once more babies play around my knee,
Again we know children, my loved one and me.

Dark days are upon me, my husband is dead,
I look at the future, I shudder with dread.
For my young are all busy rearing young of their own,
And I think of the years and the love I have known.

I\'m an old lady now and nature is cruel,
It\'s her jest to make old age look like a fool.
The body is crumbles, grace and vigor depart,
And now there is a stone where I once had a heart.

But inside this old carcass a young girl still dwells,
And now and again my battered heart swells.
I remember the joys, I remember the pain,
And I\'m loving and living life over again.

I think of the years all too few, gone so fast,
And accept the stark fact that nothing can last.
So open your eyes, nurse, open and see,
Not a crabby old women, look closer, SEE ME!

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