On a day like those others
When work burdens your shoulders
Hunches your thoughts
And patience runs thin
Through every vein
You’re shrouded by doubt
When emotions struggle
Feelings to juggle
And fragility sweeps the air
I walked silently as dusk arrived
The sky a deep purple
The surroundings dark
My feet tear apart leaves on the road
Leaving a trail in my midst
The trees hung low
And over the top of my view
I saw a man
My day a loss
My thoughts astray
That man just kept
strolling my way
Now I was young
Still a spring in my step
But that man to me
Looked as old as death
I lifted my head
And faked a smile
The man looked up
And made the moment worthwhile
A smile brushed his lips
Eyes crinkled in regard
Eyes looked at me
As if they would look forever
The man then walked by and away
In a second as it seemed
The meet a memory
But presence hindered
And I kept it safe
He with a grin
Had turned my mood around
Saving it from the depths
And raising to the clouds
It was strange, really
How a smile did all that
But it’s not a lie
Happiness is power
Day after day
I met him again
Crossing the street
Resting on a bench
He always had something to say
A “hello, what’s up?’
Or a “how do you do?”
And that reassuring smile
It’s funny how he must not know
Or care to know
That I appreciated his presence
And the person he was
He must smile at everyone
Say hello to them as well
But the impact it had on me
Was incomparable
Months receded
Years creeped by
I grow older and older
But the man was always there
He had aged as well
His black hair now
A lump of gray
A limp in his walk
Wrinkles blanketed his face
But that irrefutable smile
Greeted me everyday
Many more years later
Me now as old as
When I’d first met him
The man still
Walked the road
Although a bit slower
And every time I saw him
He looked weaker
They say life gets to everyone
That I can’t deny
Every meet I saw his youth
Being ripped away by the talons of time
And then one snowy day
I walked the same exact road
All the way home and
Didn’t see the man
The next day either
I did not catch sight of him
The truth was creeping up
But I was pushing it down
Everyday like a wound
Each day reopened and made fresh
My heart torn
Stabbed by reality
And then finally
I stopped and relaxed
I accepted the way things were
And I moved on
More years passed
Full of lonely walks
I was now as old as Earth
Nothing mattered anymore
I’d stopped walking that road
But one day I got up
And took that walk again
Everything was the same
Then near the end
I saw a young man
Walking head sunk low
With his shoulders weighed down
Something compelled me
Maybe empathy or a memory
An invisible force
So as I neared the man
He looked up
I gathered my feelings
Emotions and passions
And thrust them out into
A smile
When work burdens your shoulders
Hunches your thoughts
And patience runs thin
Through every vein
You’re shrouded by doubt
When emotions struggle
Feelings to juggle
And fragility sweeps the air
I walked silently as dusk arrived
The sky a deep purple
The surroundings dark
My feet tear apart leaves on the road
Leaving a trail in my midst
The trees hung low
And over the top of my view
I saw a man
My day a loss
My thoughts astray
That man just kept
strolling my way
Now I was young
Still a spring in my step
But that man to me
Looked as old as death
I lifted my head
And faked a smile
The man looked up
And made the moment worthwhile
A smile brushed his lips
Eyes crinkled in regard
Eyes looked at me
As if they would look forever
The man then walked by and away
In a second as it seemed
The meet a memory
But presence hindered
And I kept it safe
He with a grin
Had turned my mood around
Saving it from the depths
And raising to the clouds
It was strange, really
How a smile did all that
But it’s not a lie
Happiness is power
Day after day
I met him again
Crossing the street
Resting on a bench
He always had something to say
A “hello, what’s up?’
Or a “how do you do?”
And that reassuring smile
It’s funny how he must not know
Or care to know
That I appreciated his presence
And the person he was
He must smile at everyone
Say hello to them as well
But the impact it had on me
Was incomparable
Months receded
Years creeped by
I grow older and older
But the man was always there
He had aged as well
His black hair now
A lump of gray
A limp in his walk
Wrinkles blanketed his face
But that irrefutable smile
Greeted me everyday
Many more years later
Me now as old as
When I’d first met him
The man still
Walked the road
Although a bit slower
And every time I saw him
He looked weaker
They say life gets to everyone
That I can’t deny
Every meet I saw his youth
Being ripped away by the talons of time
And then one snowy day
I walked the same exact road
All the way home and
Didn’t see the man
The next day either
I did not catch sight of him
The truth was creeping up
But I was pushing it down
Everyday like a wound
Each day reopened and made fresh
My heart torn
Stabbed by reality
And then finally
I stopped and relaxed
I accepted the way things were
And I moved on
More years passed
Full of lonely walks
I was now as old as Earth
Nothing mattered anymore
I’d stopped walking that road
But one day I got up
And took that walk again
Everything was the same
Then near the end
I saw a young man
Walking head sunk low
With his shoulders weighed down
Something compelled me
Maybe empathy or a memory
An invisible force
So as I neared the man
He looked up
I gathered my feelings
Emotions and passions
And thrust them out into
A smile