The old ladies march
Onto the elevator,
Steadied by their canes,
Each a shrunken frailty
Wrapping an unending
Soul—they are going
To watch young people
Dance dances of grace
And beauty, while re-
Calling their own beauty
Long dissolved in the
Acid of time. Yet, they
Are happy—I even joke
With them as I lean on
My own cane: “Come
Ladies! Let’s have a
Foot race!” They all
Laugh, as the young
Girls within their
Tattered frames
Flirt with the potent
Young man hiding
Behind my time-
Marked mask.
For a moment
We all feel a jolt
Of that spark
We call life.
Nolo Segundo
Nolo Segundo is a New Jersey poet who publishes under a pseudonym. After a 30 year hiatus from writing, he returned to poetry at age 65 and has published several poems with Boston Poetry magazine.
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