Do you believe in fairies?

Chapter 31: THE OLD MAN SPEAKS

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About This Book

A collection of short fantasies and lyrical poems written with a childlike eye, presenting whimsical encounters with fairies, goblins, and other small marvels set against ordinary streets and countryside. Narrative vignettes follow children and curious adults into secret glades, enchanted stones, and musical charms, while interleaved rhymes, ballades, and reflective sketches touch on adolescence, religion, city nights, and domestic humor. The pieces blend playful imagination with mild melancholy and moral observation, inviting readers to rediscover wonder in commonplace scenes through concise storylets and musical verse.

THE OLD MAN SPEAKS

I dare not come to you with virile phrase

To tell you to give heed to what I say:

To live your life in age-instructed way,

To light your dawn with sunset’s fading rays.

I dare not wish to live again my days.

I, too, was careless when birds sang in May,

I loved to wander on the primrose way,

Untaught, I crashed through life’s conflicting maze.

Reverance, sanctity, and holy awe,

Your body’s kingdom, and your soul the king.

These are the messages of God I bring,

To keep your holiness without a flaw.

God gave to you the priceless gift of youth,

And I, unheeded, offer you mere truth.