Time Traveler

As he sits all alone in his rocking chair the frail, old man smooths his thin, gray hair With his companion, Loneliness, he whiles away the time Rummaging through memories in the attic of his mind A young man trapped in a decaying shell Traveling back to years he still recalls so well In a sense, seeming like many life times away Yet, fresh in his mind as if it happened yesterday He remembers happy moments as a child of three A tiny tot bouncing on his daddy's knee He revisits days filled with adventure and fun Fishing and swimming under a hot summer sun But his days of childhood swiftly come to a halt In their place is found a fine, upstanding adult He reminisces meeting the love of his life She gives him her heart and he makes her his wife A second World War and he hears duty call Bringing visions of horror, watching comrades fall Sights more horrific than any civilian can know To this place in his time travel, he'd rather not go He rushes on to meet with memories more sweet Four children of their own as Life's cycle repeats Too soon, childhood ceases and they are all grown Leaving he and his wife, they go off on their own His life continues to unfold in a melange of sorrow and joy Grand child's births, the sad demise of his boy Sixty happy years of marriage dwindles down to their final day One last kiss for his Sweetheart as Death steals her away Back to the present, motionless in his chair Slumps the frail, old man with the thin, gray hair Reaching out to his sweetheart, he bids Loneliness farewell As the young man departs from his decrepit, old shell