Losing my freedom: a heartfelt poem on ageing and aged care

The mirror shows a face I barely know,

Lines etched deep where youth once used to glow.

My hands, once steady, now tremble and tire,

A body betraying the heart’s old desire.

I walked through life with a stride so sure,

Built a home, a life, a love to endure.

But time, a thief, has stolen my might,

And dimmed the spark of my inner light.

My dignity slips like sand through my grasp,

A whispered fall, a faltering clasp.

No longer can I tend to my own needs,

The simple tasks now sown with weeds.

Independence, my cherished old friend,

You’ve left me now, our journey at its end.

I cannot choose the dawn’s first light to greet,

Nor wander freely down a familiar street.

Decisions, once mine, are taken away,

Voices around me hold the final say.

“You can’t stay here,” they gently decree,

“The time has come for aged care to be.”

My home, my haven, where memories bloom,

Now feels a cage, a prelude to gloom.

They pack my life in boxes so small,

Each item a story, a tearful call.

I’m told it’s for safety, for care, for my good,

But my heart resists, as I knew it would.

To leave behind the walls that held my years,

Feels like surrendering to unspoken fears.

In aged care, they say I’ll find new peace,

A place where worries and struggles cease.

But how do I trade my freedom for care,

When all I feel is a hollow despair?

Yet, in this twilight, I’ll seek a new way,

To find some light in the fading day.

For though my body and choices may fade,

My spirit endures, in memories made.