With a voice oak rich in timbre

Deep like the rumble of the seas

And tired by the weight of the years

He told me of his life

How he came from the hot lands

Inky in places with mahogany trees

Where the sky at night

Became so dark

The whole was illuminated by

The moon and stars

He told me of a simple life

Where hard work

And nature's bounty

Were all that was needed

To get by

Recipes handed down

Were used as remedies

To cure aches, pains

And life's maladies

Where family was all

And neighbours would call for aid

knowing kindness could be repaid

As and when

He spoke as if time itself was on his side

And when his eyes closed at last

It was time itself

I wanted to defy

Aged three score and ten

The old man walked

Onwards and upwards

laborious and slow

to the foothills of the Himalayas

Once there seated quiet

Amid the hush

His aging mind wandered

The collective unconscious

Letting go of earthly need

Intuition planted a seed

He prayed for wisdom, love and peace

All the earthbound wars to cease

His spirit soared

With shoals of souls

Awash in roar and flow

Then he saw the passing of time

watched his body age and decline

Learned that though we may come

From a different place

We are all connected through the human race

Then felt his body at one with a tree

As the cherry blossom fell gracefully