Feeling guilty about my poem-a-day promise

Today, in response to Kerry's choice of Harper Lee and her amazing book To Kill a Mockingbird, I could only respond in prose. One kind friend commented "Am glad you chose prose for this, Kay, it deserved the gravitas" which is a lovely compliment.
But a page of prose does not a poem make, so I considered the fact that today is Ms Harper Lee's 87th birthday, and wrote a verse about it.

Harper Lee in earlier years,
looking much like
her character Scout

My father, a writer with much of the wisdom Ms Lee attributes to her character, Atticus Finch, was 83 when he died, and he no longer recognized the books he wrote. When I read that Ms Lee is now in assisted living, I had to wonder how happy she is about the situation.

To Harper Lee, April 28, 2013

eighty-seven years old, Ms Lee

I hope you’re as happy as you can be

under the circumstances.

even if your royalties are only 10 percent

surely you would have enough for rent

your health is said to be poorly

and you’re in assisted living...

I hope you’re getting the assistance you need,

for instance, is there someone who can read

loud enough for you in your deafness

now that you are partly blind as well?

do you get to choose what’s read

or do they treat you as if dead?

is your food fresh every day

or does it come from far away?

in huge tin cans or else flash-frozen

being cheaper by the dozen?

do they put you in a tub-chair?

over in a corner where you

have no one to talk to?

eighty-seven is

a great many years, Ms Lee

I hope it’s not longer than you want it to be

Kay Davies, April 28, 2013

I saw this on Facebook. It makes me, an old editor, laugh.
It makes my friend, a retired teacher, laugh
about "the dog ate my homework"!
I hope it would make Harper Lee laugh as well.