Time Passes
Time Passes
by Elaine Schneider
written for the 2012 Invitational ELL Summer Institute
He sits by the window
A mere shadow of himself
Looking out on a world
he is no longer a part of
children smile as they pass by.
He was once like them
Young and full of life
Not a care in the world
But now confined to a chair
a mere spectator of the world outside.
In his heart he is still young
But his bones tell him otherwise
His legs once strong and tough
Are now twisted like vines of ivy
entwined in a fence
supporting a man who
Cannot participate in life any longer.
He sits by the window
Waiting
Waiting
For the night watchman
to come and take him home
to be reunited with the generations
that have passed before him
waiting , waiting……
Elaine Schneider has been with the School District of Philadelphia since 1998 as an elementary grade teacher at Hopkinson Elementary School. Elaine attended the 2012 Invitational ELL Summer Institute sponsored by the Philadelphia Writing Project.
Elaine’s poem was about her father at the end of his life. Her father had been a great soccer player as a child and loved talking to the children in the neighborhood.