An old man with a weather-beaten face,

sits hunched on a bench in the park.

Staring with eyes that are blinded with thought,

no reality can he see.

 He is taking a walk in his mind,

into the realm of memories.

His memories that never will he share.

The ones of his love and living.

 He sees himself when he was young,

a carefree boy not yet a man.

When he first laid eyes on his lady love,

the woman he eventually married.

 He smiles while in thought, as a tear escapes,

his weary eyes of seventy.

For that is when the sad memories of loss begin,

to trample and shock him back to the present.

 Now he is all alone.

No love or life does he have.

They buried all his hopes and dreams today.

Deep into the cold earth, she was laid.

 The sadness he feels cuts like a knife,

he thinks to himself "How can I go on?"

"I need to sleep like the dead,

no sadness or tears will I feel..."

 Then a voice breaking into his thoughts,

he turns his head to see.

His little grandaughter running like the wind toward him,

outstretched arms that hug and hold him anxiously.

 He smiles, hugs and kisses her afectionately back,

letting go his sad memories.

Tomorrow there is time, to take this walk again in his mind,

but for now, he is making new memories!

 Copyright © 1997 By Katie~