- Crabbit Old Woman
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Crabbit Old Woman, also variously titled Look Closer,[1] Look Closer Nurse, Kate, Open Your Eyes[2] or What Do You See?,[3] is a poem of uncertain provenance, usually attributed to a Phyllis McCormack. The poem is written in the voice of an old woman in a nursing home who is reflecting upon her life. This poem was in fact written by Phyllis McCormack - her son, Michael, still holds the copyright to this day.
First published in Chris Searle's poetry anthology Elders (Reality Press, 1973), the poem was without title or attribution. Subsequently, a wealth of urban legend has sprung up surrounding this humble work. Most of the legend associated with this poem attributes it to a senile elderly woman in a Dundee nursing home (or sometimes an Irish nursing home), where a nurse found it while packing her belongings following her death.[4] Searle himself is quoted as saying of the poem's authorship: "I don't think we'll ever know. I accepted it as authentic." (i.e. as the authentic writing of an infirm old woman).[5]
According to an article from the Daily Mail on 12 March 1998, Phyllis McCormack's son claims that his mother wrote it while working at the Sunnyside Hospital in Montrose in the 1960s, where she submitted it anonymously to a small magazine intended just for Sunnyside with the title "Look Closer Nurse".
The poem, which paints a rather sad picture of a decrepit woman's final days in care, has been quoted in various works written for and about the caring professions in order to highlight the importance of maintaining the dignity of the lives of elderly patients. It is also included in the Edexcel IGCSE English Literature poetry anthology.
References
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