Oh!

Our civilization has arrived at this station
we alight and look around
to find
buildings filling with our mothers and fathers
hospitals filling with grandparents and relatives
who are wandering the wilderness of old age
as insecurity’s companions
grey-matter greying
tendons aging
joints decaying
eyes watering
as they shuffle their way through long days of weakness
oft-despairing
always lonely
Minds firm, bodies infirm
bodies firm, minds infirm

Oh Medicine! see what we’ve done…
pushed on the boundaries of our mortality
bought a decade maybe two back from death’s timetable
So around us we find
aging children of super-aged parents
the infirm caring for the infirm
One tired generation at home
another fragile generation in old-homes

Oh Medicine! see what we’ve done…
Sandwich generations are the norm
no longer the exception
The joy of four generations at the Thanksgiving table
tempered by weightier burdens of inter-generational responsibility.

Oh people! see where we’ve come…
to a world who’s currency is speed and efficiency
we’ve recovered an extra generation of the slow and the deliberate
in a world that idolizes time and money
are multitudes aching for respect and meaning.

Oh people! see where we are…
In a world that defines purpose and passion by occupation
we have no jobs for our grandparents and their parents
In a world where machines save humans from our hardest tasks
we have a care-giving mandate that only humanity can fulfill.

Oh people! …
In our world of intellect and science
life has become better for the young 
healthier for the unhealthy
But, so long as this world remains
one of humans and hearts
it is imperative that we deliver quality to the living
and for all, a sense of purpose.