• I saw a man the other day.
    His eyes were clouded, his hairs all gray.
    He smiled toothless in a carefree way
    and talked about love. I didn't know what to say.

    I listened to him as he jabbered away
    about truth and forgiveness and people today.
    And I said to the man in my cold, bitter way,
    "There's no hope for mankind. We've all gone astray."

    But his smile just grew wider as he started to say
    something else about love always finding a way.
    I just rolled my eyes in my "shut-it-out" way
    and said, "There's no room for love in the world today."

    And I talked about hopelessness, hate, and pain,
    about all of the things that we'd failed to gain.
    He wiped a tear from his eye as he smiled again,
    "I know of all the filth, but we've all left our stains."

    The man coughed up something, and I turned my eyes away.
    After clearing his throat, he came back to say
    a word about night turning into day
    and something symbolic, but I pushed the words away.

    Then he paused for a moment, his smile faded away,
    and just stared toward me in his blind-eyed way.
    His mouth was open, as if he had something to say.
    Suddenly, he collapsed as his legs gave away.

    I've thought about him a lot since that day.
    Mostly of the things that he had to say
    as he smiled at me in his carefree way
    and showed me the hope in a man gone astray.