Old School Character…by Robert M. Katzman
By Robert M. Katzman © October 21, 2012
I hold coats for women
Open doors
Walk on the curb side
And push in their chairs
As they sit
Because they are
“Fragile Flowers?”
No
Moments of civility
In a
Savage world
I write letters
On paper
In ink
Using all of the
Alphabet
I call people
Listen to them
Can tell how they are
By the timbre of their voices
And they me
I read books
Turn the pages
Feel the paper
Hear their glued spines crack
As I progress my way through
The covers becoming
Warm and familiar
In my hands
I remember when
Tomatoes
Were
Wonderful
I read newspapers
Sitting in a soft chair
A light behind my shoulder
Hearing the flutter
Of the big pages
As I turn and fold them
Knowing the printed news
Is instantly ‘old news’
Before I buy it
Seeing the increasing
Typographical errors
As print editors
Are winnowed
But to me
Reading a newspaper
Is like walking
A little slower
Next to an
Aging friend
Cherishing memories
Of their lost
Vigor
Not everything older
Is better
Persons of color
Or obscure religions
Will not long for
The evil hateful times
That swept them aside
Praying their children’s time
Is this time
At last
But I, too, am
One of them
Free now
Free to remember
Free to choose
What is still worth keeping
What was rich and good
Once upon a time