When I am an old man
I will write letters
describing the recipients' lives
rather than my own,
astounding them
with the simple trick
of having already been there.
I will wear an expensive suit
and walk very slowly
among teenagers
and twenty-somethings
so that, in their frustration,
they learn to question authority.
I will visit retirement homes and dance
with Alzheimer's patients
who will never know that I return
to my wife every night.
I will not offer candy
or tell stories to children,
but fix them
with a gaze so curious
that they create their own
tales in treehouses
of the old man
with the crazy eyes.
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