The Pain of Nursing Home Placement

© 2009 Ulrich Joho, Flickr | CC-BY-SA | via Wylio

Maybe it’s shame

Maybe it’s fear

Maybe it’s acknowledgement

That the end is near.

*****

Maybe it’s the halls

The impersonal room

That looks and feels

Like a living tomb.

*****

Maybe it’s the money

$500 a day

Eating retirement

And inheritance away.

*****

Maybe it’s the crowd

Of lonely souls

Who have death

As their only goal.

*****

Maybe it’s hurt

And maybe it’s the pain

That she doesn’t even

Remember your name.

*****

Maybe it’s the smell

Of those dying

That permeates the rooms

Of those left lying

*****

In beds so cold

While TVs fill

The hours and minutes

They’re trying to kill.

*****

Maybe it’s the inadequacy

You feel inside

That she cared for you

And now you can’t provide

*****

She birthed you

And nursed you

But you can’t reciprocate

And see this through.

*****

You tell yourself

“The staff is great”

And it’s true

There’s no debate.

*****

“This is for the best”

You have to say

Again it’s true

But it feels so grey.

*****

It’s hard and painful

And pricks the guilt syndrome

When you put a loved one

In a nursing home.