When I'm Old In Washington Square

One day I’ll be old in Washington Square
Just a bit the worse for wear
One sunny afternoon in fall
Facing the church of Saints Peter and Paul
The parrots squawking in the trees
Stopped for mid-day causeries
Or maybe I will just have caught again
A glimpse of the ghost of Richard Brautigan

And I’ll look up and see you there
On the other side of Washington Square
You’ll be walking straight-on towards me
And be kind enough not to avoid me
Still elegant, sophisticated
A beauty time will not have faded
How strange it is that we should meet
Near our old house on Chestnut Street

“Hello,” you’ll say and I’ll reply
And you will smile and I will try
To keep my voice sounding steady
When I say, “Gee you look pretty”
I’ll ask about our one-time friends
The ones I’ll never see again
Those same friends now talk of us
Of how things were and what once was

“Well”, you’ll say, “I have to go
But we should stay in touch, you know”
And then I’ll feel my heart go crack
As you disappear and don’t look back
And you will leave me sitting there
All alone in Washington Square
Perhaps by then I just won’t care.
When I’m old in Washington Square