the old man that i see...
i looked at my mirror
and my mirror looked back
but something was wrong
cause i don't look like that
who is that old guy
living in there?
and why's he so fat
and where is his hair?
such a hideous thing
he appeared to be
then i realized
he was making fun of me
how dare he have fun
at my expense
who's he think he's fooling
it doesn't make sense
i know what i look like
in my mind's eye its clear
its the way that i've looked
for over ten years
the hairs in his nose
the over-sized pores
well if he's going to insult me
then, of course, this means war
so i scowled at the stranger
as if about to attack
and you know what he did?
the old man scowled back
i jumped back from the mirror
and he did the same
apparently both us
could play the same game
with my fiercest expression
i edged towards the glass
determined to scare him
away at the last
we both popped up
at the same count of three
and once again
he was a parody
my face was a warrior's
but his was a clown's
and after a few moments
my resistance was wore down
i cracked a smile
and started to laugh
and to my surprise
the old man smiled back
i chortled and snickered
and slapped my knee
and what do you know
he followed my lead
it must be his way
of calling a truce
so i shook my hand
and he shook his too
and as we shook hands
i tried a few tests
it seemed when i smiled
he looked his best
so now when i greet him
i look happy, not sad
and while he's no beauty
he isn't half bad
-- don
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Submitted on June 18, 2017
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:34 min read
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Quick analysis:
Scheme | ABXC XDCD EFXF GHEH XXXX XXFX ABXB AIXI GXJX XFXF HHXX XXXB XFXX XXXX XXXX JKFK |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 1,378 |
Words | 304 |
Stanzas | 16 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
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"the old man that i see..." Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 13 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/87408/the-old-man-that-i-see...>.
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