Just a Man on the Bench

“Just a Man on the Bench”

The smoke curled skywards from his amber-coloured fingers

while his eyes scanned the street for beauty

His tilted baseball hat covered a head of flowing, curly black hair

a genetic disposition he inherited from his mom

Each day for the last number of years, this long-running play was engaged in by him, the pigeons at his feet and the thousands of pedestrians passing by even though

they were not aware of being supporting characters in his life story

Someone once told him that beauty was everywhere and in the eye of the beholder

Each day he came to the same bench outside the train station to drink his morning coffee that both warmed and invigorated him

He sat patiently waiting for beauty to appear while he killed himself softly with his nicotine

He had been sold a version of beauty by the same society that now rendered him invisible in his “golden retirement” years

Every day he looked at the faces of the thousands of people coming and going �" never once did anyone look his way

He saw no beauty in their eyes or dispositions- only sad and drawn expressions as they made the daily pilgrimage to the alters of their Gods of capitalism and consumerism

One day his eyes followed the smoke from his nicotine laced weapon and he caught sight of something that astonished him

A woman had stopped in front of his bench and was looking down at him

From where she stood her silhouette was all he could make out as the sun behind her

was blinding his point of view

She said something but it did not register with him as he was still in shock over the fact that anyone had actually stopped to speak to him

She spoke to him again and this time with his senses restored he understood her words

“Excuse me, could you please tell me the time, as I have missed my train

and I am now most likely late for my job interview downtown”

He looked at his old watch, the one entrusted to him by his cousin some fifty years before

Her face now came into focus and he could see the innocence

as she had removed her designer sunglasses

He recognized it immediately, as if he was looking in a mirror fifty years ago and saw

the same burning ambition and excitement he once had himself, blazing from her cobalt blue eyes

She had an exterior bearing about her that belied her over-anxious interior which must serve her well in any social encounter but most likely would cause

 her many nights alone with her doubts and fears

He looked at the old watch face and pondered telling her the time or dispensing some of his “Philosopher King” wisdom - he decided on both

“It is 8:30, however, this is not your real time”

She looked at him with an air of incredulity wrapped in the arrogance of youth

She was about to turn away and head to her interview when a gust of wind

swept past the bench and sent a shiver through her even on this warm morning in June

Now the man stood and looked up into the sky above and stretched out his arms

in a pose that some might have confused with that of a preacher

His face warmed by the sun began to glow and his words flowed softly towards her

“Your time is here right now and it is limited so consider whether you wish to be seduced

by the job you are chasing or embrace the world right in front of you”

She was so taken aback by his words that she stumbled backwards - he caught her

before any damage was done and their eyes met for an intense moment

In each other’s eyes they saw a reflection of each other burning into their souls

No more words were needed from that point on

She put her sunglasses back on and turned to walk away

He sat back on his bench and cast his eyes downward knowing that he had

made the connection he had been waiting for all these years

His daughter had not recognized him initially until she saw his eyes and then she

realized that he had been there every day but she had never taken the time to really notice him

in her haste to get to work �" he was just another “old man” on a bench �" invisible and of no importance in her fast-paced life-style

She turned back to the bench and sat down beside the man she now knew was her father, estranged from her after her parents had divorced so many years ago

She reached out and took his hand in hers - The job interview would have to wait �" life had interrupted her big plans

© G. A Bernard 2022