today i watched an old man watch the world

it’s mostly elderly folks I see
who sit in plazas or courtyards
just looking around
just being

not trying to look like
they are busy
no need for any pretense
of doing something important

my dreams now are mostly of time

time enough to sit and think without
the itch in my eyes to look at any screen, large or small
when it is normal again to sit and look at the sky

i am tired of
feeling so rushed
all the time

i am tired of
the urgent need
to absorb the latest
bit of news or information
or witty quip or innuendo

i want to learn the
slowness of past generations
and distant cultures,
that quiet presence that is too often taken
as emptiness or absence of mind

i want to create a life
in which it is okay to be slow
to take long moments
to breathe

i want a world
in which it is okay
to sit in a place
and just be.