My favourite story

[Tiger the Lion]

Hey Keith, I've read this many times already and read the comments. It's beautifully written and takes me with it on its way. But the more I read it, the less  I am sure about the timeline. Although I think they are correctly written, the tense changes distract me from the heart of the poem. Beginning with the great title and first line...

 

will be written by a man with a bad limp Future
who only writes on his good days.
When the light fills his study just right,
he wishes he could capture all the colours. present

Each morning his stick taps down a cobblestone path
to buy fresh pastries and strong coffee,
always says "good morning"
to a lady watering flowers,
she only ever smiles back. present
One day she will pick him a buttonhole
and change everything
by kissing his cheek and smoothing
a soft hand down his lapel. this is lovely but I'm back to the future  - and I wanna know what changed

He works with an old typewriter 
named Jessie after his wife, worries
that one day he will open the study door
and find that its heart is no longer beating.

Sometimes he rests, sipping beer
under his favourite olive shade,
watching the sky for feeding swallows,
chasing the heat of a late afternoon. yes (aren't we all?) wonderfully layered metaphor

His face has readable lines,
with a thought he takes a journey
beyond the pain in his leg,
around the agapanthus out
through the open window
to travel across the downs,
running like a child along "a child on the edge"? maybe a nice line break if you could use the edge somehow
the edge of a wind swept beach.

The words always find him thirsty
as he sits deserted,
arid until the rains come. I need water here. Very good
He cries as he writes,
only stopping to wipe his glasses.

I very much like this Keith. I think there might be one piece missing that distinguishes this man between a hypothetical writer in the future and an actual writer now, that might write the story in the future. Plus, I'm crushed not knowing how the lady changed everything. Was that the intent?
Excellent write,
Paul