ABSTRACT
This 1976 poem, composed by social activist Don Bakely, focuses on the plight of an impoverished 80-year-old woman. At the same time, the poem raises a number of issues that continue to plague our society more than 35 years after its publication. The woman in this poem contacted Bakely for help one Thanksgiving Day because she was out of food and fuel. His powerful words move us as we read this poem because they address the issues of lifelong poverty, being an older adult and poor, and the inadequacy of the public welfare system. His words, however, also capture the hope and resilience that this woman continued to have throughout her life-a phenomenon we do not usually associate with chronic poverty and advanced age.
