The Very Old Man

When he met himself
beside the road,
he could not be sure

he'd ever really been the boy
he was, so happy to be alive
and nothing more.

He wanted to talk
about what lay ahead,
to warn himself somehow

of the losses
and the griefs
and how the heart grows cold.

But words failed as they always had
and in the silent room
he woke:

in the boy-less dark,
alone with nothing
but his body in his arms.

Copyright © 2007 Patrick Phillips All rights reserved
from Cave Wall
Reprinted by Verse Daily® with permission