[An incident at work today]
He fell on two steps.
I didn't see it, but heard a noise and looked around from my work
He was lying on the floor, face-down in the vivid red and green of a salad he'd been carrying when he tripped.
He was a big man -- well over six feet tall --
Lean and muscular,
With enormous hands, farmer's hands.......
I vividly remember his hands.
They were shaking, still feebly clutching at the air for support.
This was a body that had once lived a life of undoubting certainty,
Now inhabited by man grown old, frail and, for the moment at least, bereft of all dignity;
Shocked, trembling, lost
And paralysed by confusion and embarrassment.
As I helped him up to his feet, I recognised myself
And wept for him and his lost youth.
No.
I wept for both of us.
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