What do you see, old man, sitting alone by the fire?
Heartless world of scorn and hurt , treasuring hate like a philosopher's stone.
Judgment passed, greybeard by the road,
Must be a thief, waiting for the night to dawn.

His sunken eyes know the way into the dark
As evil forbearing comes with the folds in his hand
Wrinkles on his face, countless tales to recount
How he crept thru the darkness, still and quietly,
And watched as the baby cried with fear.

How shallow this world, with its looks and half learnt lessons,
The old man by the fire, his tales of a world so far from this.
Child, learner, lover and father
His sunken eyes reveal the times he's forgiven with a heart, so grand.
With his very hands, he's cared and worked for the ones he loved
His wrinkles recount tales of a life well served.

But now, he sits, alone by the fire,
Disowned, refused,
Unwanted, forgotten.
Caught up in the web of the world,
Buried in the sands of time.