Critical Poetry—Ed Galing (Hatboro, PA)                                                    For more highly critical verse, see Critical Poems.    
 

Ninety-two years old, outspoken, hate government bureaucracy, and the namby-pamby sons of bitches destroying our way of life.  I am also a Jewish man, who doesn’t give a shit if you like me or not, and a gentle man; just leave me alone, goddamn it.  I hate the way day care centers for the very old treat all of us like a bunch of idiots—coloring books, and playing kiddy games.  When I was young there was the WPA. Lots of drones worked on this make-believe program. I have written many letters and had a, knock on my door when I was 21, for criticizing the city government. I worked on the writer’s project during the war—another phony job.  I have served in the army and navy... got out after 17 years with no pension because the navy shipped me away from home, and made it impossible for me to complete my last few years… I suffered plenty.  The whole damn world is run by lunatics. My wife had terminal illness and was in a nursing home after an operation, then in a holistic room in a hospital where they give you 6 months to live (or less).  We were married 68 years—2 grown sons, 2 grandchildren, 5 great grandchildren.  Once we were all young, and family.  Now we’re suffering from old age and death.  At this time of my life I’ve written over 50 chaps, been in hundreds of zines—won awards, first prizes, etc.—so what, eh? 

The Warehouse

this is my first day in

this nursing home,

my son said, dad,

this is the best place

for you right now,

yeah, sure it is…

just because i had a

small stroke at eighty

he puts me in here…

well, i cant blame him,

he is sixty himself,

works night and day,

he cant take care of

me, specially now…

dad, he says, soon as

you get better, you

can come home with my

wife and me
yeah, crap too… it will

never happen…

anyway, now that i am here

in a wheelchair, i have a

roommate next bed, a big

black guy who snores all

the time,

and the hallways are full

of screaming alzheimer

people, and broken down men

and women who each live in

their own hell… i call it a

warehouse for old people,

before we die…

once you get in here you

dont come out…

(they say the food

aint bad here…)

Nursing Blues

you don’t need to go

to hell when you

die

just get sent to

a nursing home

any one

and you will

soon learn what

it is

to die by inches…

the one my sister

in law was in

was the worst i

ever seen,

she laid in a goofy

bed, with a

mattress that blew

up with air,

the nurse came

around to stick

her with a needle,

and to wipe her

ass,

my sister in law

groaned, when

they put her in

her wheelchair,

she was half out of

it, when they took

her into the dining

room to eat with all

those crazy people in

there,

I seen it with my own

eyes,

she has alzheimer’s,

at the table she

fell asleep, and her

face hit the lousy

food they had given

her

god have mercy

the nursing home

don’t