This is another of my poems written about 12 years ago when I worked as a care assistant. These are my own thoughts and observations.

Inside/ Outside

Your memories are many,
locked up inside your head.
Sometimes you don't remember
the wife you love is dead.

Inside you're young and able
but your mind is telling tales.
You're in a wheelchair at the table
and your bed has safety rails.

Your care plan doesn't mention
that you fought a bloody war.
Now your elbows take the battering
as they wheel you through the door.

Your care plan never mentions
hopes and dreams you planned to share.
Those life savings you worked hard for,
now pay towards your care.

The carers try their hardest
to keep you clean and smart.
So many regulations now,
no wonder they lose heart.

Sometimes you may remember,
your children visit you.
You're lucky if they stay an hour
but it's hard for them to do.

It breaks their hearts to see you now,
this frail person you've become.
Old photographs bring memories
of a personality, now gone.

Sometimes a little flashback
will give you some recall.
Though few and far between now
as dementia takes it's toll.

So with affection, they remember,
the great man you used to be.
A kind and loving father
Still there inside, but sometimes hard to see.