The kids all wear their AirPods 
with the stems tucked tight, 
so they don’t draw attention
like a pair of Howdy Doody ears.

Me, every time I happen past a
window or a mirror, I notice
I’ve got them sticking out like the 
bolts in Frankenstein’s neck.

I’m fifty-six. I’ve forgotten what 
it means to be cool. Perhaps this is
my version of dress shoes with 
black socks and shorts.

What I never understood when 
I was younger was the fact that 
it wasn’t that the old men didn’t know,
it was that they just didn’t care.