Disconnected

He sits with grizzled look
Talking to himself
And sipping coffee.

The weathered tawny hat
His signature piece
Adds a somewhat jaunty look
Above the sparkling eyes
Adorned with low-slung spectacles

I see him often
Wandering through town
Or resting on a city bench
Pondering the world around him
And I wonder
What does he think as we pass by?
What memories flit through his mind
Of time elapsed?
What secret pains
Have etched those creases
On his swarthy face?

He could have been a pirate
Swabbing the deck
Scrambling as look-out
To the crow’s nest
“Ship ahoy!”

Or then again
Perhaps a drudge
Harvesting tobacco
Beneath the blazing sun
Feeding the habit that haunts him still

A gentle nod of head
A fleeting smile
Acknowledgement of some faint whisper of contact
As I walk by
Too shy to sit awhile
And hear his tales
Of former days

What have I missed?
I’ll never know
‘Til gathering my courage
And my desire to delve
One day I care enough to pause
Connect
And enter in