I saw you today …. Sweeping the sand off the parking lot
Baggy pants and dirty shirt, sandals and floppy hat.
I watched you a moment as you fought the inevitable.
You moved with the slow, steady pace of so many your age.
No rush … no sense of urgency … no one to answer to but yourself.
I saw you today … Taping a window into your old pickup truck
Rusty and dirty from a life of hard work, but somehow dignified and noble.
I watched you a moment as you finished and slowly put away your tools ….
Each in its place … in a toolbox held together with a homemade lock.
A lifetime of stories tucked away inside… waiting for someone to stop and listen.
I saw you today … when I was walking to the beach.
I said hello… you raised your head, looking out from under your floppy hat.
A smile spread easily across your face – worn by sand, sea and time.
Beneath a great, gray mustache, toothy and true.
You said, “Hello, it’s a wonderful day.”
I said, “It sure is … how long have you worked here?”
We sat down and talked a while on an ancient set of wooden steps …
And I listened to some of the stories the old toolbox held.
I saw you today …
And I made a new friend.
I saw you today.
TLH 6/30/16
The Mind's Eye 