hello again, my fateful friend,
your visit is alarming

your smile still as charming

Sometimes I wonder if
I’m the only one who sees my gift
as a curse,
and my curse as a gift.

Bent man, still proud,
Dark pants, brown coat,
Firm belt, white socks,
Lopped gait, slow,
Slow,
No cane, yet
Places need going
Even and especially by the
Old.
I stand a pedestrian witness
To his crosswalk constitutional
It matters not to him
that the red sign blinks
With the eyes of onlookers
Who follow the icons
of social construction.
I feel something like pride
For the figure still bent,
Crossing,
But the pride is not mine
So I release it with an exhale
And hope it reaches some kind corner
Of this difficult world.

stones in the ocean -

jagged steps of sediment,

worn smooth by the waves.