The old man whispered from the dark,
Shadows hiding his intent.
He urged the youth to embark.
With palsied voice, hear what he said.
–
“Come you to the water’s edge.
Come you to the line of trees.
Come you step beyond the hedge.
Think you ready now to leave.
–
“Grown men dream of freedom lost.
Women of their wildest days.
Boys they wish to pay no cost.
Girls to finally have their say.”
–
The youth was not one to waste
wisdom from an elder’s lips.
But, they thought, the wise make haste
And this old man barely keeps his grip.
–
“At what price does your wisdom come?”
The youth asked in a voice unsure.
“My lessons for the day are done.
Must I also listen now to yours?”
–
The old man, shaking where he stood,
braced himself against a tree
so he might wave his crutch of wood
and demand again, more urgently,
–
“Come you bring the dreams you’ve lost.
Come you give your life away.
Come who care for you and naught,
You who’ve never found your way.”
–
“But I’ve lost no dreams,” the youth argued.
“I’ve barely had the time to dream.
I’m afraid you’ve mistakenly assumed
I am someone other than who you see.”
–
The man in his frustration, wept.
He sat with aid from crutch and youth.
“Please,” he continued, “do accept
these words of hard-earned, painful truth.”
–
“The end will come, be you prepared.
The end will have. The end will take.
The end will come, your soul to snare.
If you’ve not lived, it’s your mistake.
–
“Do or don’t, be brave and dare,
or stay hidden home in comfort, safe.
Whichever path you choose, beware.
The end is not your choice to make.”
–
The youth looked ’round for any aid.
The man was weakening with every sigh.
Upon the earth, the man, they laid.
He coughed and wheezed before he died,
–
“Think not long on what you’ve lost.
Think not to give your life away.
No matter if you like the cost.
Live life now. You cannot stay.”
–
The youth cried hard over the man.
This elder who’s last words were spent
on a stranger who could barely understand
or fathom an old man’s intent.
–
Yet set they out the very next dawn,
a new dream in mind, a new plan in hand.
If years and life are so easily withdrawn,
they will strive to spend them as best they can.
