By the roadside,
Where the hawker sells his wares
And the lazy roam without any care.
Especially on the dusty afternoons
Where the wild flowers bloom
With hasty abandon
Under the harsh sun,
Sits an old man, who abides,
For his son to come.
He would tell his story,
If you just listen.
With tears that glisten,
He would tell you of past glory
Would you listen ?
Prompted at : OSI
10 visitors stopped by.:
I would, indeed.
oh there's a touch of sadness in this.. i would listen too.
The old man from Pune
or
Ten Days in a Molasses Spring
as told by Lewis Carroll's Bellman after reading Kipling
By, but not near, the roadside of Pune
Where the palmers do buy their fronds,
The lazy sojers shout a-bak ole buffoon!
Hi! look uterali! - but he never responds
He abides and abides and mumbles his bun
In his age-clouded eye pools a tear
His sira is seared in the sun
And it's gray - oh so gray - from many a wearisome year.
The ajlaf all tell how he fell from his post
From the glory of serving the Raj
No more can he strut, no more can he boast:
Carting slops from the officers' lodge.
Photo source:
An old man sits on a roadside pavement in the western Indian city of Pune
copyright August 21, 2007.
REUTERS photographer Punit Paranjpe
All Rights Reserved
..got to stop & listen "Where the wild flowers bloom"_
many thanks for sharing this..
beautiful lines !!
Powerful question. I like to think I would. I hope so. Lovely poem.
Your words take me into a different world. Yes I would listen.
I would stop and listen too. Thanks.
:)
Lovely. And the picture! It complements the poem so well!
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