Senior Discount

The crowd is as thick as the smoke in the air.
His steps are calculated, keeping his distance
from the young bodies that dance around him.
Hands float through the air, reaching for anything
but he returns to the wall, to wait until he is brave enough.

Another button is unfastened on his white dress shirt,
a hope that he might for a moment feel young again.
He sees it. They know. His hair is full, his body is fit,
but he is not a part of this world. He had his time. But no more.

He would give anything to have it again, to suck out the life
and gain back the time he lost. When a young man, eyes
blank and hair disheveled, stumbles into his arms,
he doesn't say no to clumsy hands and the stench of tequila.

He wouldn't dare