Eternity's Ladder by Mark Tulin
A poem about a proud gentleman.
Photo by the author's wife, Alice Tulin.
He is proud to be 101 today,
the man in the nursing home
The one who sits at the center table
with a gentlemanly smile and gets up
to dance with the ladies
He’s the one who sings
“Amazing Grace” with the pastor
The aging man still has his charm
and tells war stories to cute nurses
on how he blew up enemy bridges
and built them up again
He barely remembers his past,
and the scent of his wife’s perfume,
gazes at the window
and sees his reflection
among the marigolds and calla lilies
The man with the grand family
of multiple generations
eats Mexican sweet bread
and puts hot sauce
on his huevos rancheros
He fades from this life with dignity,
climbing the ladder of eternity,
a valuable relic to the modern world,
a uniformed soldier
whose Army picture hangs on the wall.
the man in the nursing home
The one who sits at the center table
with a gentlemanly smile and gets up
to dance with the ladies
He’s the one who sings
“Amazing Grace” with the pastor
The aging man still has his charm
and tells war stories to cute nurses
on how he blew up enemy bridges
and built them up again
He barely remembers his past,
and the scent of his wife’s perfume,
gazes at the window
and sees his reflection
among the marigolds and calla lilies
The man with the grand family
of multiple generations
eats Mexican sweet bread
and puts hot sauce
on his huevos rancheros
He fades from this life with dignity,
climbing the ladder of eternity,
a valuable relic to the modern world,
a uniformed soldier
whose Army picture hangs on the wall.