The Encounter ©

I met a strange, old man today,
As I walked to town by the riverside way.
He was bent and gnarled like an old, oak tree,
Yet his eyes were as bright as a summer sea.

"Young man," he said in a voice so clear,
"just stop for a moment to listen and hear,
the wandering songs that the river sings,
and the sunshine stories a swallow brings."

"Take a second to look at a spider's art,
and the dew-drop that lies in a daisy's heart,
then, before you hurry along your way,
feel the welcoming warmth of a summer day."

As I listened spellbound to his words so wise,
He was gone in an instant before my eyes.
But the wind in the trees seemed to echo his call,
"Just stop for a moment and look at it all."