Don't Bother Me

Rescue the drowning and tie your shoestrings. - Thoreau

don't bother me

i'm walking in the rain

trying to find what's left of my brain

it's wet

it's cold

so do as you're told

i'm out of breath

soaked to the bone

breaking out of this nursing home

don't bother me

i'm running away from getting old

running away from the mold

running away from always being told

trying to get back to my house that's been sold

i'm getting away from this prison sentence stay

getting away from all the hair that's bald, blue and gray

and empty, clanking bottles of hairspray

don't bother trying to talk to me

i have nothing to say

besides, all it will do is burn another precious day

i want to be young and free

so whatever you do, please don't bother me

i don't like jello

or sitting in diapers that make your eyes burn because they're wet and yellow

don't worry about fluffing my pillow like a marshmallow

just bend down and fasten my orthopedic sneakers 

if you would, please, my good fellow

Author's Note

"As if you could kill time without injuring eternity." - Thoreau

Reviews

[Thomas W Case]

This one hurts in a quiet, humiliating way—and that’s exactly why it works. There’s dark humor here, but it’s the kind that comes from fear, not cleverness. The repetition of “don’t bother me” feels like a shield against what’s coming, and the nursing home details land hard without begging for sympathy. That last polite line is brutal—dignity clinging on by a thread. This reads like someone still fighting while the walls are closing in. Strong, uncomfortable, and honest.

[Pete]

sounds like you gleaned it all. what a great review - couldn't have explained it better myself. thanks twc. stay young if only on the inside!