The Old Man In Our Minds... Poem by RIC BASTASA

we have seen
the same old man
sitting along the
sidewalk smoking his
cigarette
not feeling the pain
perhaps
when that red glow
touches the
skin of his finger...

did he count the
cars passing by?

did he have any
thoughts at all?

we cannot go inside
his mind
neither can we probe
the labyrinths
of his heart

we pass him by
and we face the
world again

we will soon be
like him
and we shrug off all
these fears.