The Old Man The Society August 19, 2012 Poetry A hunchbacked man, at least a hundred years old Hobbles by as I wait for the train, I brace for the inevitable sharp pain, When his grotesque odor will soon take hold, But, to my surprise, instead, the proud bold Smell of a rich cologne reaches my brain And I am left feeling dumb to complain About something that never did unfold. Now, he passes me almost every day; I get the feeling he’s more rock than man, A symbol of how time’s long river can Sculpt the hardest earth on its endless way. The train arrives and I am left to think: When I’m that old, shall I be rock or stink? -Evan Mantyk Bio: Evan Mantyk is a newspaper editor, writer, and poet living in Harrison, New York. He is president of the Society of Classical Poets. Views expressed by individual poets and writers on this website and by commenters do not represent the views of the entire Society. The comments section on regular posts is meant to be a place for civil and fruitful discussion. Pseudonyms are discouraged. The individual poet or writer featured in a post has the ability to remove any or all comments by emailing submissions@ classicalpoets.org with the details and under the subject title “Remove Comment.” Share this:Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Leave a Reply Cancel Reply Your email address will not be published.CommentName* Email* Website Notify me of follow-up comments by email. Notify me of new posts by email. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.