Patriarch

I had never met him,

He stepped into the metro,

Wearing an aged glorious crown of white,

His infectious smile lit the coach,

That sun from his face shone at me,

Unconsciously my tired face muscles loosened,

From my heart I looked at and greeted him with a smile,

He settled to sit,

Then hesitated and staggered to a sit by me,

Shook my hand with a father’s assuring hand,

And was just as happy to share,

As I was happy to learn,

Without warning nuggets of wisdom dripped from his lips,

Like honey from the honeycomb of experiences to many to count,

I sat by him, transformed into one big ear,

Soaking in all he could share in the short ride,

Hating that I reached my stop so soon,

The joys of riding back from work,

With the man on the clapham omnibus,

Real people in touch with real life,

One of us,

But a patriarch of our humanity.

Afesehngwahilary, © 2012