Old Painter at the beach boardwalk.

We need to listen to the old ones. Can enlighten the mind and heart.

  




















 Old painter on the beach boardwalk
 
Old man sat alone.
He was painting a picture of a woman.
She was from another time.
 
We sat in silence till he finally spoke to me.
He whispered "Her name was Jennifer.
A homecoming queen. "
 
"She was a beauty then,
that lays in my dreams still".
 
He told me he was eighty.
The brush was his only remaining friend.
 
I asked him for a story?
He would give me more.
 
His sad eyes looked to the sky.
He told me. "The sun always rises from the east.
Fall into west.
 
Life is like the sun and the wind.
It seems we should know how life should be.
But like the wind we change direction."
 
He spoke of war.
How friends who never came home.
Were left in lonely graves in Europe.
He remembered kissing the ground.
When he landed at the New York airport.
 
He gave me a smile.
With sad brown eyes.
Told me.
 
"You will rise and fall asleep each day.
Wars will come and go.
 
We need to look beyond the terrible things.
You must  see the beauty around you.
 
Love is the kindest gift.
 It is given from the heart.
 
Love is fair,
You must give more sometimes or less.
 
I wish to said I love you more.
Gave more kisses and love to friends and family.
 
I wished to have complained less and celebrate living more.
 
Old friends ride in my memory still.
The laughter and craziness of youth.
 
I wish to thank my friends for allowing me to know them."
 
I asked the man was it worth it?
 
The old man touched his painting.
Told me. " Friends and lovers had create more pleasure than pain.
 
I would stand my ground again . 
Go to war  for the freedoms I have.
 
Look beyond self-pity.
Life is for the warrior who is not afraid to love or fight.
 
He whisper take no chances and there isn't joy to be touched. "
 
I thanked him.
I  visit him often till one day he was never came back.
I hope he found his friends and family.
 
I watch the sun fall into the sea.
I  thank the spirit of life and death for another day to celebrate being alive..
 
                                  Coyote
                              1992
  

Author's Note

A old poem. The coast of California have so many kind and gentle Writers, Poets, Painters and Musicians. Willing to tell a you story of a long and good life.

Reviews

[Cascara (aka Sprint Goe..]

Great work- I guess we all see the good in our lives when it's about to slip away from our fingertips.

And what a powerful last stanza- especially your metaphor and the way you seamlessly provided an explanation for it right away.

Overall, a wonderful, poignant story.

[Coyote Poetry]

The people we meet who tell us of a great life. We were lucky to have met them. Thank you for reading and the comment.

[Cascara (aka Sprint Goes Cascading!)]

My pleasure

[emmajoy]

' Listen to time spent ' ... that's what one of our grannies used to say!

How right you are and how fortunate you were, to absorb such wise, wise words. Maybe we can all learn by listening rather than spouting off, thinking we know it all. Men and women who have experienced life, have also experienced the results of it .. when they try to pass on these outcomes surely we should listen because they know better - if not best.

I hope you won't mind but I'd like to take the following with me: 'Life is like the sun and the wind. It seems we should know how life should be. But like the wind we change direction.'

[Raven Wilson]

Wow. Just. Wow, there is a lot to gain from reading this piece.

[BoSweets]

very nice write Coyote.. the picture you paint is as if I'm watching from afar. Thanks
BoSweets
ps. sorry I've been offline for a while

[Deepshikha]

The way you told us the story, the way you imparted those wise words to us, was amazing. At first, I thought it was merely a story, but as I read on, I began to realize just exactly what you were saying. Oh, the cruel fate of some men! But we must move on and remember, right? Yes!
Loved this very much.

[Simply Profound]

Wow.

The truth in this poem is touching. It's like wisdom and emotion twirled in some beautiful embrace.

The only distraction for me was that certain verbs were unusually conjugated. Granted, I regularly ignore the rules when writing my own poetry, but that aspect is taking a little getting used to for me. Otherwise, brilliant work. No words wasted, every line was powerful.

[universe-explorer]

Somehow this is very realistic. If I hit the road, then on an average, I will hit a man like this in 5 hours.

I am not going to make a comment on the love part, that is classic.

The part where you say you will fight for your freedom, sounds like your freedom is differently defined than I am familiar of (the freedom I am familiar with is a set of rights, which does not conflict between more than one persons. when one persons right is squeezed, with convincing logic, they accept it, when the groups right is squeezed with convincing logic, they accept it, but without convincing logic, they fight. But the persons never "say" that they are going to do it. It is rather intrinsic behavior).
Maybe that difference can be a classification criterion, and the classification might give some more insights, but I personally am unable to do this.

But a much more closer to life story.

[MagiCrystal]

I can be your student.. and you my teacher.. I feel like I learn so much just by reading this poem...I love Old stories.. with color and love..
awwwwwwwwwwwwww 100 % Magical

[Sean M. Addams]

i thought you did an awesome job on this piece ... very meaningful and very well expressed...overall i thought you did great on this ..imagery was top notch

[Nayan]

Truely realising poem! Joining the past and the present thats still living... Memories take us to olden days and give us more grief than happiness! - the grief that those days won't come back!

I loved these lines -

"Life is like the sun and the wind.
It seems we should know how life should be.
But like the wind we change direction."

and

"You will rise and fall asleep each day.
Wars will come and go.

We need to look beyond the terrible things.
You must see the beauty around you."

But I dont agree with these lines...

"Love is fair,
You must give more sometimes or less."

Why less?

[::Yv0nne::]

I can imagine the two of you sitting there, staring out into the ocean as the sun sinks lower in the sky. What a beautiful moment in your life...these are the ones we should treasure for always :) To have a friend like this...with such words of wisdom is a great friend indeed!!