Everyone Who Lives Into Old Age Poem by Shalom Freedman

Everyone who lives into old age
Knows pain and loss
Carries with them hurts too great to rationally bear
Must live with the knowledge
That their own end will be painful to others
Goes on knowing
That silence must be their gift to others
Knows that much of the unbearable
They must bear alone
Everyone who lives into old age
Needs courage
To bear alone and silence
Pains which shared
Would only bring more pain to others