Gray eyes gaze in mild interest
As pairs of feet walk on by
Couples, hand in hand, love in love
Depending on each other childishly
Old men and women, arm in arm
Literally unable to stand up without support
Passing by store windows
Thinking of when everything was new
Though the businesses are closed
The windows are dirty and the doors are locked
The paint on them chipping away
Like the beauty of the youth
Children dressed in new-fangled clothing
Listening to God knows what
Doing nothing good to anyone
Growing up to be nothing more
Than their parents

Days gone by, so are missed
Black berets and glass cola bottles
Jazz and the blues are no longer fashionable
Family dinners are no longer roast beef
We can no longer Leave It to Beaver
Because Beaver grew up to be nothing
Things aren't what they used to be
Gone forever in the oblivion of time
Framed in six-by-nine black-and-whites
And pastels on canvas
And in the mind of those gray eyes
Across the street, in the nursing home
Reminiscing about days long gone.