I hear the purr from spouse
As I feel the urge to pee
The quilt I push aside
And pivot socks to floor
The Persian carpet edge
I feel and know is worn
As I pad unsteadily
Around the bed
My right hand holds
The maple top
Of bureau that long ago
Lost the marble slabs
I wobble but reach out
For the chrome handle
Of the closet door
And inch to reach
The bathroom door
Always open to the bars
That help the elderly
Stay upright until
The seat is reached
No more do I stand
To urinate but
Lower pull-ups
Ahh release
Pull old body up again
Repeat my steps
Return to bed
- Steve Shoemaker, Urbana, IL, Jan. 1, 2016
Views from the Edge 
BTW, it’s Hitchcock day on BBC America. Right now “Rear Window” with Jimmy Stewart,1954. Kicked off the New Year this morning with “Psycho”. Between those pastimes & Steve’s poetry, it feels like a great new year dawning.
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We’re on Chicago’s North Shore with two seminary friends and their spouses. Enjoy!
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Wonderful images that evoke the desire to return to bed tonight.
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Steve’s verse, as always, is so real.
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Steve wrote well. the ever declining abilities, we once took for granted. And a reminder that nothing stays the same, especially when illness hits.
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Indeed, Karin. Malcolm Guite posted a meaningful section of Tennyson’s In Memoriam for New Years
Day.
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