The Little Old Couple...

We live in a senior mobile park.
This could happen on almost any day.

Each day they walk along on spindly legs,
They never get more than a foot apart.
She leads the way by just a half a step
And if she stops, he waits for her to start.

I've watched them from the day that I moved here,-
They always walk along the same old route.
He holds her hand,- but sometimes just a finger;
They love each other dearly,-there's no doubt.

The tallest one is just over four feet;
The man, a bit the taller, but just so.
Between the two of them, they wouldn't weigh
As much as I do by myself, I know.

I tried to talk to them one day in passing;
I just thought I'd pass the time of day;
They looked at me politely as I spoke,
But neither of them had a lot to say.

The man spoke first and told me that his wife
Had had a little stroke some years ago.
He said, before, he couldn't shut her up
But now her thoughts and speech were kind of slow.

She looked at me and smiled, she understood.
I think that she had heard these words before.
She gently touched my arm and then they left;
I never thought to stop them anymore.

One day when I was walking to the park
I saw the old man sitting there alone.
I asked him how his wife was and he said,
"A whole lot better now that she's gone home."

I haven't seen him pass here in a while.
Could be he found another way to go;
Or maybe he went to be with his wife.
I'm not sure that I even want to know.

I will just remember them together,-
Holding hands and smiling as before,-
Walking down the same old route they took
The first time that I saw them pass my door.

Later...