Sure, I’m glad to hear them say
“Hi! Long time!” or “Hey hey!”
But my emotion’s mixed at best.
On one hand they evoke for me
Happy times long cold.
But they remind me too of all the years,
The decades, crushing eons
I’ve trod the land on aching ankles.

Unearthing moldy yearbooks
I scan the photographs:
The smooth complexions,
Quaint clothes, enigmatic smiles.
Faintly I recall these friends,
Fondly the memories we share.
But then they attach a recent shot,
And it hits between my rheumy eyes,
I’m old.