The pavement waters parted… <br />No need for a Moses: <br /> <br />On one side an old man <br />Engaged in an eternal struggle <br />Trying and failing <br />(Or succeeding so excruciatingly slowly <br />It was impossible to tell which) <br />To evenly balance the two meagre shopping bags <br />On each side of his rickety old handlebars <br />As if just an ounce or two either way <br />Might topple him from his precarious perch, <br />His bike frame, <br />Tailored to the length and strength of his youth, <br />Now seeming to have outgrown him <br />By a good two or three sizes: <br />His ‘S’ to the stainless steel and chrome ‘XL’. <br /> <br />On the other, <br />Another was lovingly easing his lady’s delicate bones <br />Into the passenger seat of their car <br />As softly as one might set down <br />A see-through bone china cup upon its genteel saucer. <br /> <br />The mountain ranges of older ages <br />Were casting their first faint shadows <br />Upon our middle ageing valley. <br />The metaphor wasn’t lost on me: <br />We would be raised up <br />Before we’re finally laid low – <br />That much was plain to see……..<br /><br />Tony Jolley<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/pavements-and-partings/
