I met a man whose eyes beamed with an unfamiliar pain,
And yet he forged a convincing smile.
He sat across from me, with an identical cup of tea,
Began to tell me his story, and allowed me to relive a part of History;
He spoke to me as though I were his own child –
With such gentleness and wisdom;
With a mind that censored just how much of his tale should be told.
I sensed his odd fondness towards me,
And I knew that, such a time as this, was what he had been waiting for.
At first, he found it difficult to express even the slightest emotion,
But eventually, the tears began to gleam in his eyes;
It would seem as though my silence and presence, crumbled unseen concrete walls,
And gave way to the view of an unfortunate life;
A life lived by a man who loved, until love refused to give.
I know a man who once sewed his heart on his sleeve;
Open on display for the world to see,
Because that was the person whom he wanted to be –
“The man whose love for his neighbor, was as vast as the sea” –
At least that’s what he told me.
Then came the day when his tides began to change.
Strong winds blew in, and the acidic rain came.
And it poured and it stormed,
Until what he loved the most, was washed away.
And then, as though the storms that roared, wasn’t enough,
The hand of fate ripped his heart out of the woman he loved.
I met a man who once believed
That, no matter what the world conceived,
He would never cease to love.
But when his belief was put to the ultimate test,
He chose to hate, and his fervent affection came to a permanent rest.
Hi final words to me, were that of a plea:
He said, “I’ve made a thousand mistakes, but that was worst of them all.
I gave up quickly, without a fight, just when life took its first hard fall.
For years, I’ve missed the man I was, but in you, I can see the man I wanted to be.
I knew a man who knew me beforehand,
who has watched me walk these streets.
Who felt compelled to observe my endeavors,
And found it redemptive to take interest in me.
He knew that, one day, he'd sit across from me, to ask that I be wiser than he.
For his life would have been a complete waste, if years from now, I'm looking through the eyes that I see.
https://lifeinthelines.weebly.com/pieces-of-the-story/cafe-conversation-the-old-man