Obsolete
I don’t know anymore
what’s cool
or keen or what you mean
when you say “whatever”
Someway, one day
when I wasn’t looking
someone changed the rules
of the game.
People twice my age
I always called Sir
or Ma’am or Mr.
or Mrs.
People half my age
now address me that way,
like I’m ancient;
Obsolete.
Obsolete!
That damning designation we use
when describing some
useless contraption.
Outmoded,
we discard such things-
or worse- set them aside
to gather dust on a shelf.
Listen! Run while you can.
I’ll sit
on that shelf
sipping wine with your mother.
Run while it’s cool
or it’s keen or whatever…
Obsolete objects
ossify.
Anthony C. Hayes is an actor, author, raconteur, rapscallion and bon vivant. A one-time newsboy for the Evening Sun and professional presence at the Washington Herald, Tony’s poetry, photography, humor, and prose have also been featured in Smile, Hon, You’re in Baltimore!, Destination Maryland, Magic Octopus Magazine, Los Angeles Post-Examiner, Voice of Baltimore, SmartCEO, Alvarez Fiction, and Tales of Blood and Roses. If you notice that his work has been purloined, please let him know. As the Good Book says, “Thou shalt not steal.”