The Old Man and the Boy
On a beautiful clear dayTwo people sat on a park benchAn old man and a young boyWatching the world pass by
What is it like to be a child?The man asked the boyIt's been so long I cannot rememberWhat it felt like to be so young
Being young is not so bad,The boy replied to the manIt can be hard and frustratingBut I know I have much to learn
And what is it like growing old?The boy asked the manDoes it scare you to knowYou are running out of time?
Growing old can be difficult,The man answered the boyBut not so hard as living with regretAnd knowing you have wasted your life
And how do you feel about adulthood?The man asked the boyDo you know what you want to beWhen you grow up?
I never want to grow up,The boy replied to the manJust because I will get older doesn't meanI can't stay young at heart
And how do you feel about love?The boy asked the manHave you ever fallen in loveAnd did it last?
Love can break your heart,The man said to the boyI loved once and swore I never would againAnd now I am alone
Whatever you do, don't be like me,The man told the boyThere are few things worse in lifeThan living with unfulfilled dreams
I promise, I won't be like you,The boy said to the manI will make something of my lifeAnd even if I fail, at least I shall have tried
The old man nodded and they sat in silenceAs people walked by around themOblivious to their conversationLost in their own lives
I wrote this poem over a couple of nights this week. For a fairly short poem it was quite challenging to write, more than I thought it would be.
I felt the overall structure of the poem was important and I spent a long time refining each stanza. I specifically wanted to try to tell the story in a minimal way so as not to distract from the conversation and finding that flow was probably the most difficult part of the poem. I like how it came out in the end.
Something I often think about is if I could somehow give advice to my younger self, what would I say? That's what initially inspired the poem and the boy and the old man are meant to the same person, years apart.
They are not meant to be me, however, so much as a reflection of society in general and the way we are often forced to conform from a young age and the path that sets us on for the rest of our lives.
I'm not sure what I would say in that situation but I suspect it would be a variation on some of what the old man says. I would probably tell myself to not be afraid to take chances as you'll never know where they might take you.
The photo is one I took a couple of years ago in Sydney's Centennial Park. I think it suits the poem well. I like to think this is the man the boy eventually grows into, on his way to becoming the old man one day in the future.
Photo: Man By the Lake © CJ Levinson 2014 Poem licenced under Creative Commons