I saw you walking down the road the other day—You didn’t see me.
It gave me time to think about the slowness of your walk,
About the years that drifted by while each of us pursued our lives.
Your gray beard betrayed the years spent working, worrying,
Taking care of those you loved, taking all you had to fill their dreams,
And learning as we all do that nothing could save them from hurt
Or from themselves or from the toll that life would wreak on them.
I thought of the moments we shared, those precious hours holding life at bay,
Sharing if only for a time the hard-fought freedom from our daily cares.
How many times did we save each other from the burden of loneliness,
Talking or singing or simply sharing the silence of mutual understanding.
You stopped and saw me looking at you, and you nodded with a slight smile—
No need to talk or to indulge in some meaningless hearty hello.
You knew, too, that words or waves would have been too little, too insincere,
Letting that nod say everything that needed to be said between us.
Letting the years and the memories speak for you, a greeting we both understood,
And you walked on, the smile still playing almost imperceptibly on your face,
Acknowledging the truth of friendship, knowing that I too had no need for words.