REUNION

I walked along a street in my home town
Between the scenes of yet another dream.
A noisy car came near, slowed slightly down;
Inside, un-aged, my high school chums--my team!

Brad, at the wheel, looked like he always did,
Seen in the hallways or up on the stage.
Mark, Laurie, Keith, and some familiar kid
And all still at their adolescent age:

Seventeen, untouched by life, still prime.
All seventeen, untouched by life, and prime.

I called their names, they turned their heads to stare.
I said "Good grief, where have you guys all been?
How is it you're still young and fresh and fair?
How'd you do that? Can I be seventeen?"

They focused on me briefly, features frank,
Examining me like some sort of bug,
Then looked at one another, silent, blank,
And shared a brief and apathetic shrug.

Seventeen, and looking fine, still prime.
All seventeen, and looking fine, and prime.

Their interest in me faded fairly fast.
It wasn't for my sake they'd driven slow--
I was just a stranger who they'd passed,
And clearly, they were ready now to go.

"I guess I'm doomed," I said, "I'm doomed, aren't I?"
They talked among themselves as off they rolled.
Who was that? Have you ever seen that guy?
I stood flat-footed, overweight and old.

Fifty-nine, and past the prime, and doomed
But even in the dream, they too were doomed.
In much the way that all of us are doomed.
.

 

This was a real dream from a few years ago, though I may have been older or younger than 59.