March 2019
Fredric Hildebrand
fhildebrand@new.rr.com
fhildebrand@new.rr.com
I am a retired physician living in Neenah, WI, with my wife, two sons, and two labrador retrievers. I am just beginning to learn to think like a poet.
Note: This poem is one in a series written in the reimagined voice of my grandmother. She lived to the age of 104 and had many stories to tell.
Take Me Lord
Don’t people just forget you!
Did I ever forget anyone in my
entire life? No, Sir; I did not!
And wasn’t I the good shepherd
to everyone I met, never letting
new church folk get away
without a call.
I bent myself in half for you people,
spreading gentleness with smiles
and hellos, committees and all those
Bible study classes.
Wasn’t I always the good Christian!
But now when you’re old
no one remembers you.
It’s like I’m disappearing one day
at a time.
Someday I’ll press this button
and no one will come.
I could be bleeding like a stuck hog
and not a soul would care.
Why doesn’t the Lord take me?
God knows I’m ready.
Published in Art Ascent 1/19
Take Me Lord
Don’t people just forget you!
Did I ever forget anyone in my
entire life? No, Sir; I did not!
And wasn’t I the good shepherd
to everyone I met, never letting
new church folk get away
without a call.
I bent myself in half for you people,
spreading gentleness with smiles
and hellos, committees and all those
Bible study classes.
Wasn’t I always the good Christian!
But now when you’re old
no one remembers you.
It’s like I’m disappearing one day
at a time.
Someday I’ll press this button
and no one will come.
I could be bleeding like a stuck hog
and not a soul would care.
Why doesn’t the Lord take me?
God knows I’m ready.
Published in Art Ascent 1/19
©2019 Fredric Hildebrand
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