Nursing Home Visit (IP)

– a bunch of old photos

‘Bill’s changed a lot! Joe’s beard’s black!
There’s Annie as a tot!
Who’s that peeping at the back?

‘Here’s brother Bert, and his wife, Grace
(she loved that glittery skirt);
 –now, there’s a most familiar face!

‘This meal and dance were when you went
to relatives in France
for that reunion event.’

“That’s ages past”– ‘yes, long ago
– don’t photos last and last?
no wear and tear or aging show.’

The memories are bitter-sweet,
when solid food and meals
you cannot manage now to eat,

nor rush around as in those days,
but hearing still is sound:
you smile as on our smiles you gaze.

Enjoyed, these snaps give stimulation
while twilight days you live,
your lifespan’s fading culmination.

As in and out of sleep you drift,
the memories you keep
your heart to faith may stir and lift.

[IP: some reference to 'change'.]