“Smile and see the world smile with you”,
Said through slow drawn whispers,
With a wisdom-tinged raspy voice
Through upturned lips wrinkled
Yet filled with warmth.
The one behind the voice
Seems an unlikely prophet,
Heeding fruits of kind gestures.
A face touched by unkind years,
Filled with such fortune
Of mere rags on his sleeves
Seems filled with a soul rich,
Untouched by the cruel world’s tinge.
I wonder how the years
Have taught lessons that could tatter
But left the soul happy in the end.
What stories lie beneath that guise?
What strength rests in this soul
That after this long road entwined
Still bear upon those lips,
Among teeth scattered and worn,
A smile that warms my bones.
The chance to speak never comes
As I pass the corner street prophet
On my way on this crowded road.
Yet lessons many I learned
From an encounter so brief
That forever changed my plans.
For every moment alive
I will thank and smile,
Not at the fortune of goods around,
But of having been taught to smile
Even when beaten by life’s turning hand.
For in every touch lies
A decision to make amend
With the fate to us dealt,
To sit and let time pass
Or smile and let the wind of time
Take hold and carry on.
So it shall be for me now,
Even if years long past
Finds me on that street corner,
As that lucky corner prophet
Bestowing words of wisdom
So deftly dealt.