Fifty nine and Frightened

 They haunt bus stations,

"home cooking" coffee shops

and "hot" night spots

that have been tepid for twenty years.

Wearing polyester "leisure" suits

and carrying their lives

in cardboard suitcases.

You see them, men,

on the far side of fifty

(with sixty staring down,

only months away.)

White shirt,

long sleeves rolled,

collar open three buttons.

 

Each of them has a story,

the stories are all the same;

Twenty years ago,

in an effort to prove

he was still young;

he threw away his past

---Wife, kids, house, car, job,

friends--for a girl.

Young enough to be his daughter.

She left him long ago.

 

For years he drifted;

always downward,

from job to job.

One bedroom apartments

in steadily crummier complexes,

then studio apartments,

second rate rooming houses,

fleabag motels,

Salvation Army shelter,

and finally

Potter's field;

or for the "lucky" ones,

a plot in a Veteran's cemetary

(--at least a flag on Veteran's Day

recognizes

he was once a man)

 

The families they deserted,

so many years ago,

may never know,

the grey ghost

who haunts their past

is dead.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

.......

 

Reviews

[My Fair Lady]

Wow- this was powerful, and thought provoking. I have seen the hauntings of such men... sad, but really never noticed in such a way as this. Thank you for sparking that thought.