Room 6016

If a stranger walked down this hallway
And peered inside each room
He’d see a lot of sameness
He’d likely feel the gloom

Cell after cell of aging bodies
Remnants from better days
Some will fight on, some will soon leave
For some, it’s their final stay

But Room 6016 has a special case
Much different from the rest
This particular room holds an uncommon man
Just no longer at his best

These medical angels that come in and out
To check and prod and poke
I wish they could know who they’re dealing with here
He’s different from other folk

Come in, kind nurse, and do your thing,
(Like you did just two hours ago!)
But before you re-rob him of much deserved rest
There’s some things I want you to know

This patient lying before you
May look a wasted mess
His body is frail, he’s just skin and bones
And his words no longer make sense!

But there was a time, not long ago
When he was nothing like this
Before this disease would lock its tight grip
There was The Man that we now miss.

A marvelous man, full of all things good
A real charmer to the core
Please let me introduce you
To the man that came before.

As you lean over his bed, don’t you feel it?
That spirit, so good and strong?
He’s a featherweight now, in this frail little body
But his mettle still lives on

Those arms that look so thin and weak
Have hugged me a thousand times
Shoulder hugs, neck locks and good ol’ full ‘rounders
They would wrap around me like vines

His heart? Oh it’s still beating strong
Full of love for all he met!
You will need a bigger stethoscope
To check a heart as big as that!

His eyes are a little bit cloudy these days
I wish I could see where he goes
Fighting old battles and winning old wars
In old places that only he knows

See how he fidgets? You’d think he was mad
But there’s purpose still, in those hands
In the haze of his mind he’s still serving, and giving
Or organizing new plans.

The cuts and bumps upon his head
Can’t deny what was once inside
A bright engineer with huge intellect
With ideas, never before tried.

Old Age is a mean old bastard, I’ve learned
In the end we all look much the same
I just hope if I’m there, someone might be aware
Of what I was, before what I became.