Popular

8 May 2009


Am I more popular, now that I’m lame?
The people I have met a month ago,
A year ago, (and to my shame I must
Admit that I’d forgotten them completely,)
Will hail me in the street: “How are you, John?”
And smile at me, a cherished dear, dear friend.


And I do smile and say: “Hallo!”, because
I've learnt to wait while my poor memory
Is struggling to recall just where we met.
And if I’m lucky my archival brain
Will proffer name and circumstance, and I
Will smile some more and say: “How are you, Jack?”

Or Bill or Bert or Frank or Theodore.
Maybe we’ll chat, or maybe give a wave
And Bill or Theodore stride on or drive
Away, and still I smile because I feel
That there are still some men who know that I
Can  see, can speak, can hear, and even love.