Poetry for Seniors

1/24/06

Poetry for Seniors

A visit with Aunt Katherine

By Sally Jadlow

She draws the window blinds
behind sheer curtains;
shuts out the bright sunlight.
Her feet shuffle behind me
across the threadbare tapestry rug.
In the darkened room I can barely see
tatted doilies, worked around fine linen
that adorn the faded arms and head-rest
of the brocade wing-back chair.
A musty smell permeates the room.
Matching lamps, shades still dressed
in cellophane,
stand guard on walnut tables at each end
of the sagging divan.
With shaking hands, she sets a silver service
on the small Windsor table
next to white Haviland tea cups and saucers,
pours.
Passes me a tinkling cup,
“I’m so glad you have come
to brighten my day.”

Sally Jadlow serves the Kansas City area as a corporate chaplain and creative writing teacher.

Backyard adventure

By Bettie Turner

Two little strangers are frisking in my yard.
They’re very cautious, even in their play.
They stop to nibble, then to listen hard,
Standing on hind legs, to look my way.
I stay as still as I can quickly be,
Hoping not to give them sudden fright.
A magic moment’s hesitation flees,
They turn and dart away in hasty flight.
Unwittingly, I spoiled their daring game.
Their sense of danger sent them on the run.
No chance for me to coax them to be tame;
Their foray for a morning treat is done.
How blessed I am to glimpse these small, wild creatures,
Who, in their simple ways, are Nature’s teachers!

Bettie Turner is a retired teacher, librarian, and journalist who lives in rural Gardner, Kan.

Now that I’m retired

By Russ Craig

Now that I’m retired, I have so much time to do
things that I’ve been putting off, friendships to renew,

Like playing golf and tennis and going to the lake,
riding bikes and fishing and lots of naps to take.

I’ll go camping in the mountains, hike up to lofty heights,
take trains all over Europe, see all the famous sites.

Maybe I’ll sail ’round the world or enter a regatta,
buy a motorcycle and do things I hadn’t oughta.

Now I’m working part-time at the local super store,
greeting all the shoppers as they come through the door.

Now that I’m retired, I have to work some more,
so I can pay for all the things that I retired for.

Russell Craig is retired from the home repair and weatherization program of Johnson County Human Services & Aging. Although he just had his 75th birthday, he is a substitute teacher in the Shawnee Mission high schools. He lives in Shawnee, Kan.

Season Of

By Barbara L. Brown

As time goes by,
there’s a smaller possibility that I might cry.
And I become less and less
Depressed.
At the nursing home,
I cannot roam
Where problems dwell.
There’s no danger I’ll fall,
And the season
Of my depression
Is over
For now.

Barbara Brown, who lives with Parkinson’s disease, resides at Royal Terrace in Olathe, Kan.

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