out living everyone else

The thin old man
by the window
in the coffee shop
sitting with his cup
he moves slowly
as he rises to leave
no longer from caution
I long to sit with him
to share our coffee
to ask him questions
what is it like to be so old
to have outlived all his friends
all his family, maybe his children
to now be closer to death
than to anyone else
what is it like
to have all love affairs behind him
to know the best passion
that he will ever have
has already happened
even as I experience
the greatest of my life
what is it like
to have almost everything behind him
to be fighting his last battle
not for power, not for love
but merely to survive
to sit again in his seat
drinking coffee in the window