JD

Sat staring at a postcard wall
In the JD mall
First floor
can't see the door
Waiting
for a teenage boy to arrive
Is he alive, even
Staring at the wave as it breaks
Rising up and merging with the floor
the escalator
from the door
Never stops
rises not drops
Clock ticks
Lick lips
Where is that boy?

Sitting with gran
near the fan
A young man asks if he can help
Mirrors stretch from ceiling to floor
The escalator wave
still breaks from the door
relentlessly rising into the floor
I browse the Nikes
with their stars and stripes
Waiting for him to rise
on the wave
of pre-shave
Manhood

We look old
In the fold of JD
Gran and me