A moment in a room
He slowly rises out of the chair
standing as upright as possible given his age
folding the newspaper in half
and then again
placing it on the side table
straightened just so
leaving everything nice and tidy
awaiting whomever next enters the room
This routine
he began shortly after
becoming the only person
inhabiting the house
He turns the table lamp off
and the warm hues of the it’s light
illuminating the room
evaporate
plunging the room
into darkness
backlit through the kitchen doorway
beyond which
the cold hues of the fluorescent kitchen lighting
wave distantly into the room
in which he currently stands
He operates his phone
clicking virtual buttons
and
shortly
a song plays
on a speaker that
we can not see
but
hear with the clarity of 70 year old ears
New lights in multiple hues
now illuminate the room
and they desolve,
evolve
and revolve
slowly,
across the light spectrum
morphing
into various shades of reds
and greens
and blues
and yellows
and every color in between
a subtle pattern
ever shifting
to the beat
emanating from the speakers.
The man sways to the groove
he performs careful silent salutations
and gives thanks for every moment
he’s had on the long forgotten planet
He smiles
Who knows how many more moments he may have
or how few such moments as these
he will experience
He will enjoy them
The best he can
He may be old
Lonely
Forgotten
But his time
and life
matters
Just like it would to you
Just like it would to me
