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Simple pleasures and life

Sad for you but not for him

By Lindsay G DuddyPublished 2 years ago Updated 2 years ago 8 min read
1
Deep thought

Old Man Tommy

The Old Man sits in the Park.

Every Day he sits and watches but no spark.

He leaves his house as the sun comes up,

Walks to the bakery to get yesterday’s bread and coffee to sup.

He walks to the park and sits down on his favourite bench which is next to the pond.

He feeds the animals which come to him every day, like he waves a magic wand

They sit waiting for him to come and sit down.

“What treats do we have today”? I’m sure they say with no frown

The anticipation is intense in all of them.

Ducks, geese, seagulls just about all native to the area and more than ten.

He opens the bag the bread is in, slowly because his hands are swollen with arthritis.

He has invented a little tool he uses to break the bread, which is real smartness.

He tries to divide up in equal amounts

And can be heard telling off the greedy ones who act like louts.

I suppose in a way they are his children

As he has no family or relatives or anyone that is hidden.

So his life is plain and simple.

The same thing every day without a ripple.

Over time he has become somewhat of a local legend

People pass by and remark “that’s Old Tommy the animal man” and say “Hello” It’s always mentioned.

He nods and smiles and then continues his routine.

People leave him coffee, a bun or his favourite saltine.

He smiles and softly says “thank you!”

You may think this sad, but! For who?

For Old Tommy this is his life and his love for the last 25-30 years.

He knows nothing else but doesn’t look for cheers.

He carries on day after day,

Including winter when some of his flock have gone away.

He knows they’ll return and bring with them some new additions.

With open arms he welcomes them with no suspicions.

Then he will give them a name

Which for all he has done the same.

As time goes by old Tommie’s legs are beginning to wither.

He’s finding it hard to walk for long especially in the months of winter.

He tries with the aid of a cane

For a while it was working but “oh! The pain”.

He couldn’t bear the thought of not being able to see his family.

It was tearing him up inside but he still acted calmly.

For nearly nine decades Tommy never shed a tear,

But the thought of never seeing them again brought so many tears and fear.

As the days and months went on,

People could see his struggle upon.

They would ask to help; he just smiled, thanked and just carried on feeding away.

He was now only managing to stay half a day.

The animals would be there waiting no matter what time he arrived.

His days were getting shorter and to make it he still strived.

Poor old Tommy was really struggling,

His legs were giving up and causing him so much muddling.

The doctors say “it’s only a matter of time”.

He replies “time is only relevant if you let it be”, “look I’m fine”.

But the truth was that he will soon be immobile.

Deep down he knew, it was not going to be a while.

He kept making the struggle day by day

To the bench and his family.

They were becoming shorter and shorter,

But the animals would be waiting always for his quarter.

The waiting got longer and turned into days

Yet they still wouldn’t move and more would come along the ways.

As the number grew people would start to question

“Where is Old Tommy”? “Does anyone have a suggestion”?

They tried to feed the animals themselves

But they just would not eat unless from Tommy himself.

The Park Rangers tried to move them along,

Come the next day they would back and not gone.

This same routine went on for days, then one day out of the horizon,

Appears a man coming along with his wheels on.

It was Old Man Tommy being pushed along in a wheel chair.

Then the animals sensed he was there.

The loudest noise you never did hear.

The animals were all in sync and clear.

No matter what they wouldn’t stop,

Until Tommy was there with his bread and sop.

He insisted he wanted to be on the bench

And grunted “not on this wheelchair, it has a stench”.

Tommy was not a good patient,

In fact he acted more like an infant.

With the help of the carer and someone from the public,

They move him from the chair to the bench so no more rollick.

As soon as he sat on the bench once more.

The animals went quiet and were heard no more.

An eerie silence fell over the place,

Including the people who had gathered to face.

Tommy put down the bread and coffee by his side.

He opened the bag slowly and with some pride.

He got out his tool and proceeded to pick

The bits of bread so he could flick.

As soon as that first piece got flicked to the hoard,

Another cheer went up, this time by the people who just sored.

The animals looked so excited.

Tommy, well, he was just quite delighted.

After a while Tommy sat back and drank his coffee

All smiling and watching like a big softie.

Most of the people had left by now

Except the carer and one or two who knew how.

They were talking amongst themselves about Tommy.

He leaned forward on the bench and spoke to his family like he was their mommy

He then sat back with a grin on his face,

Looked around at his place,

Then closed his eyes to take a nap.

The animals just sat there and watched in silence without a flap.

The remaining people could sense the feeling,

They turned around to see Tommy sleeping.

But what was wrong? The animals did not move

They looked at Tommy as if entranced in his groove.

They looked again at Tommy and then the animals,

Still no movement not even any flappables.

Everything was oh so still.

It was like being in a horror movie, they began to feel ill.

The carer then snapped out of it and went straight to Tommy.

He shook him by the shoulder to wake him up and go, in case of a proverbial Tsunami.

There was nothing not even a flicker.

He tried again, this time checking for any ticker.

Nothing happened, no movement, no pulse and no breathing.

Tommy was gone; he got his final wish and was now leaving.

The animals began to drop to the ground,

One by one and without a sound.

Someone checked one of them for life.

There were no signs and exclaimed “we are in strife”!

They fell with such grace and a look of peace,

But what could cause them all to release.

For the next hour this continued until one remained.

Someone decided to pick it up to see if it will be sustained.

But alas as soon as it was picked up it just flopped in his arms.

It was the last straw for the crowd that gathered and the tears flowed, there were no hams.

The crowd could not stop weeping.

This feeling just took over with one mass sweeping.

Tommie’s body had been removed already.

It was on the way to the place where you get ready.

His facial expression donned an acute smile.

It seems that’s what he waited for, for just a while.

He knew just what he wanted to do,

And that it would be his final Hooroo.

When he leaned forward to talk to his family,

He had said thank you and goodbye and to move on nice and quietly.

I don’t believe he ever knew the real connection he had with them.

It seemed they just couldn’t go on without him.

Strange as it may seem and way off the chart,

They all appeared to die of a broken heart.

A sadder tale of love and death you will be hard to find,

But you hear fables and myths and stories which are not left behind.

When you walk past the bench in the park.

Just listen quietly and you can sometimes hear a whisper and not just in the dark.

Some also say they can hear the animals at a certain time of day.

I suppose you’ll never know until you go and do it your own way.

There is now a plaque at that bench in the park

To honor Old Tommy the man, the legend, the myth and in the end the man with the spark.

sad poetry
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About the Creator

Lindsay G Duddy

Live in Perth Western Australia. Originally from Scotland UK.

Started writing 2015 whilst I was doing night shift and the urge took me and so a lot of my early writing was done whilst I was doing Night shift.

Short stories, novels. Poetry

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