Notes from a Nursing Home

I sit alone,
A cynical observer
Listening to
The dreams of
A teenager;
Her unrealistic
goals and ideals
And fanciful
hopes and expectations.
I chuckle softly
at her horrific
visions of
becoming old and fat.
A giant blob
Merging with its peers.

Some will take
the side of the gawky,
uncertain fledgling
and plead with others
to let it attempt to fly
before clipping its wings.

They don't seem to realize:
ostriches have never flown.