Nursing Home

I can smell the vomit on her breath.
She's so anxious he stomach won't settle.
I sit with her for an hour
And the nurses are finishing their
"Charts." They tell me,
I didn't ask, "We'll set Mel down for her nap
"After we're done with Charts..."
Or whatever the word they used was.
They stood in front of a wall sized tablet computer
And picked at it for about twenty minutes.
I see they are done,
So I politely ask, "Since you're done with charts
"Can you please lay my grandmother down?"
Then they gaslight me, "Charts?"
Like they hadn't just told me they would.
I get a little sense of what it's like in there.
Finally, after two more times asking,
And my grandmother pleading with me to stay
Until they put her to bed,
They take her, and don't even put the 
Safety feet on the wheelchair.
Apparently, that's only if residents
Can't hold up their feet.
I knew otherwise, but didn't say anything.
I tell them three times they are doing good,
And was about to give them commendations.
Then, they put her on her bed,
And frustrated they have to do a little extra work
They shove her socks on, yank on her pants,
And yank her so hard that my Mimi hit her head on the bed board.
She cries out the whole time---I've seen it once before
But not this violent---
And I walk out of the room.
My grandmother pleads for me,
I walk in and tell them, "These are human beings."
My face contorts, I can feel it furrowing into a frown.
They look at me like I had spoken a foreign language.
It never occurs to them that they are doing something wrong.
Because they've been inconvenienced and asked to do their job
They take it out on an eighty-seven year old woman.
I hold in my anger as best I can.
I tell them in the politest tone possible to leave.
They try to turn it back on me, but I won't let them.
They leave, one by one.
I report it. Got a phone call.

My dad had a similar experience with just how cruel people are getting.
The life and soul of people has been sucked out of them,
And all their love and good nature is gone, it seems.
Like Micah said, "Woe is me, for I desired the first ripe fruit off the vine."
I learned recently that the statement was Micah looking for kindness in Israel.