The Old Man in the Street

The old man walks the street when the world sleeps.
You will see the wrinkles and the bent back
And the face creased with years of sun and rain.
His past is a succession of missed opportunities,
His future is cast in the cold lonely streets.

But in his mind he’s not changed from the time
When the young world was fraught with romance;
He cannot see the ruins of his yesteryears.
He is busy looking at the silver moon
Which seems to have taken over the dark sky.

He hums a song he used to sing long ago
In silver roads under the silver moon:
He cannot remember the lines of the song.
Old Time has caged the wingless singing bird,
But the song in his heart is forever free.

Diptesh Ghosh