For Jeffrey Gardner
I saw your future self today
on the corner of 39th and Division.
He was clean.
Well-dressed in black
wool coat, fedora,
funky sunglasses.
Brown Carhartts.
Silver beard shot with black
trimmed neatly.
He still walked like you
ever so slightly stooped
leaning forward
as if battling a wind
or climbing uphill.
He was talking to himself
and looked
like someone I'd want to know.
Your past self wandered by me
ReplyDeletethis morning,
and with a smile, handed me his tattered copy
of the daily newspaper
he no longer wanted, or needed,
and he nodded our way as if in collusion
about the way the world was headed,
as if he had already been there
with you, and me,
and I watched you watching him
wander away, down around the block
of Mom-and-Pop Storefronts,
and penny candy arcades,
with his cell-phone-less fingers snapping to a rhythm
that seems to have been long lost
when the digital invaded our heads
with information and updates,
and devices crept into our hands;
Instead, you/he/me bounced to the beat
of forgotten songs,
and me/he/you seemed secure in the quiet comfort of walking with ourself,
alone.
:)
Thanks for sharing your poem and inspiring me to write a response.
Kevin
Kevin - I love the way that there's no distinction here between I/he/you toward the end of the poem, love the reminder of days before cell phones and information overload. Love the lines "secure in the quiet comfort of walking with ourself, / alone." Thank you for sharing your poem here!
DeleteLove them both!
ReplyDelete