The Walker

He woke up when a nurse at the old folks home, kissed him,
because it was his eighties birthday, he knew this could
not be true he had slept for fifty years and now woken up
By a kiss. He looked in the mirror; the face was not young,
this was an illusion because they said he was old.
He set about capturing the lost years by walking across
Europe, from the south to the north, but to his surprise
when coming to a town people cheered him on and he
was famous as the man who was walking back in time.
When he reached the north of Sweden, he looked forty
he was treated as a sage; fans wanted to know his secret.
In a TV interview he said, “if you walk long enough, you'll
find the way home.” This was regarded as a truism, and
roads were clogged by elderly people trying to find their
youth or a time when they were happy.