DTP Part 88

The Man
Written on: January 5, 2005 (age eighteen)

I once met a man
He sat in a park every day
Sun, rain or snow
No matter the weather outside
He was always there
I had learned as a child to expect him
Even if I did not look his way
I knew he would be perched on his bench
So I grew up as he grew older
And my visits became shorter
And further between
Yet one day as I was claimed an adult
By societies eyes
I went to the park
And searched out this man
A man so constantly in memories
And soon I found this man
Colored by age
Shadowed by death
He was no longer that strong image in my mind
Now he looked frail and alone
As he did not before
I sat beside the man
As if we were not strangers
And stared ahead as he did
Followed his trail of sight
Yet I saw nothing
The vision not calling me
As it did to him
What did he see
That brought him here each day
I turned to him to ask
And I noticed for the first time
The distant and blurred look in his eyes
And I knew
What he saw I would never see
A long and distant memory
Even though no words were shared
I knew this spot was sacred
I turned away from him
And again I stared at that one spot
But now I closed my eyes
Went into my mind and disappeared
My eyes open and distant as his
As I remembered everything from my past
The park became to me a sacred place
As it was to him
A place of solitude and sharing
To spend alone or with friends
I spent the entire day just sitting there
Just to remember
By the time my mind came back
To present days thoughts
I realized my day was gone
The man still sat in his memories
He had so many more than I
I stood and left the park in understanding
I knew why the man sat there each day
Now I visit the park
In honor of my memories
So as I return to this park as a woman
The man no longer there
Only a memory in itself
Added to many gathered through the years
He showed me how to treasure them
Without a word spoken between us
I treasure this park now
And all the memories it holds