The Old Man's Counsel

Down the road I was a-walkin', and to myself I was a-talkin', when suddenly came there comes a-stalkin', a mysterious little man; His wrinkled face, his ragged cloak, his crooked back and oak cane spoke of the travails of time which choke the sinew of the soul; 'I was like you once, young lad, Oh dreams and hopes and plans I had, that drifted off like smoke and clad, now am I in despair'; 'For I like you am but a man but flesh are we, we're no more than the grains of sand and dust that span the earths four corners over'; 'But unlike me you still believe, that one day you might reach - achieve those goals, those dreams - and yet naieve are all your fantasies'; 'Though I be old and you be young, and I am spent - my soul once sung, the same song yours sings now - yet flung away is all that mist'; Spellbound I stood pondering, the the old man's counsel wondering if indeed I ought be fearing, aught that the old fool uttered.