Abandoned Elderly Poem by Daniel B Kelleher

Abandoned Elderly
Christmas time, a time of good cheer
Forgetting the elderly once held so dear
A mother a father if you are lucky both
Christmas day at home sadly alone

With presents around your Christmas tree
Our grandchildren faces light up with glee
Sitting around playing with your new pup
Forgetting the elderly who brought you up

Christmas time can be lonely time for us
Knowing your doing what we did for you
Christmas morning was special to you
You knew where we were going later

A ritual handed down for generation's
After mass visits our grandparents
Where more presents awaited
A ritual sadly abandoned by you

As we get older and sometimes frail
You called to see us less and less
Even phone calls became a chore
Did we do something amiss

To you we have become a burden
As we entered our twilight years
We ask nothing from you
Except a visit now and then

It's not only Christmas time
That elderly feel abandoned
Their days are long and lonely
Their nights they live in fear

They struggle as they age
A visit would reassure them
That someone still cares
Someone still loves them

Daniel B.Kelleher