A Mountain of a Man

He crawled methodically up the stairs A man of six foot four To what would become his death bed As he did each night as before He insisted at being at dinner With the family while he still could His family no longer argued the point Of what he shouldn't or should I only happened to be there at this moment to see it all To see this man's physical reduction To that of a toddlers crawl He had mastered a plan from Point A to B resting part way on elbow and knee I quietly stood he never saw me Somehow that's how I felt it should be He had struggled to keep manly pride intact Deciding for self what he did or not lack He made his way on his own