Poem To A Dying Man

I see you in the synagogue almost each night now- I have seen so many in the condition you are in now- The frailty, the thinness, the cough, The intense concentration required to do the smallest thing, The great difficulty in small motion- Like most of them you are a good man Worked hard all your life Raised a family Knew dislocation and suffering Struggled for survival Made a new life after the old world collapsed- A good man- I see you now My heart goes out to you- It’s the human condition after all Living and dying- And who am I to do anything about it? I exchange a few words with you To not leave you alone with the night We go our separate ways - My heart goes out to you But what am I to do? This is the human condition And will happen in one way or other To all of us- I hate it- I hate to see your suffering But this is what we are And I can do nothing about it. A few words in the night And then gone.