Friday, April 6, 2012




FRIDAY IN A NURSING HOME

At some point -  pain - too much
pain - can be anesthetic - can be
numbing. Then - surprise - as a
result,  one starts to spot others
and stops thinking of oneself.
While lying in a nursing home bed,
one begins to notice the person
in the corridor making the stations
of the cross while walking
with their walker. One sees
the agony in the garden in
the face of the lady who comes in
to pick up the tray with the
uneaten meat loaf and the nibbled
on apple pie. One knows -
just knows, “Something’s wrong!”
Maybe it’s money. Maybe
it’s her teenager. Christ! 
With eyes closed - resting on
one’s wooden cross in room 219 -
one hears at times shriek cries from
some Judas in the distance
who can’t let go of a betrayal
from a long time ago. They cheated
on someone they loved because
they were doing or not doing
something they didn’t like
and couldn’t forgive them.
Now we know they didn’t know
what they were doing. Sometimes
we only know some things when
we’re old. Sometimes self destruction
can take longer than 3 hours on a cross.


© Andy Costello, Reflections 2012


Painting: Vincent Van Gogh, Old Man in Sorrow (On the Threshold of Eternity) Saint-Rem, April May 1890. Kroller-Muller Museum, Oterio, Netherlands.

1 comment:

Mary Joan said...

A beautiful reflection .

The reality of life . Knowing that Jesus knew life's realities helps .