they need us now

they need us now,
not then.
these old people who look
like us.
with their
walkers
and chairs, their oxygen
masks
and pills.
they need us
to be there, to go
places where they can no
longer go.
helpless now
in their aged bones.
their loose robes,
shaking
and coughing. bleary
eyed
and thin.
they need us now,
not then.
strange how things
come around
before the end.