Friday, June 18, 2004

The Philosopher

I've looked at people's eyes since I was a little boy, still do it all the time.  It's like I'm looking for something, sometimes I see it in their eyes, sometimes I don't.  Mostly I want to see it in my own eyes when I wake in the morning and look in the mirror.  I read this little prose this morning on mountainwings.com and had to share.

 

The Philosopher

===============

I saw him sitting in his door,

Trembling as old men do;

His house was old; his barn was old,

And yet his eyes seemed new.

His eyes had seen three times my years

And kept a twinkle still,

Though they had looked at birth and death

And three graves on a hill.

"I will sit down with you," I said,

"And you will make me wise;

Tell me how you have kept the joy

Still burning in your eyes."

Then like an old-time orator

Impressively he rose;

"I make the most of all that comes,

The least of all that goes."

The jingling rhythm of his words

Echoes as old songs do,

Yet this had kept his eyes alight

Till he was ninety-two.

~by Sara Teasdale~

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

The eyes have always been important in how I see a person for you can see many things, from lonliness to excitment to searching for something that they long for.  Some don't or won't look directly at you and that says alot also.  And it's amazing sometimes when you can look at someone and find yourself locked in their eyes.  This entry of yours reminds me of one of mine from months ago.  http://edit.journals.aol.com/_do/MapUrl?origUri=http%3A%2F%2Fjournals.aol.com%2Feynl%2FHappeningsduringtheairIbreathe%2Fentries%2F66
Carol

Anonymous said...

Love this poem. Thanks for sharing it. I've always been drawn to people's eyes too, knowing that eyes really are the window to a man's soul. My mother, husband, and most of my friends have always told me, " If you don't want me to know what you're feelling you better not let me see your eyes. They tell everything. Like you. I search for things in the eyes of people. Sometimes I don't know what I was hunting for till I see it reflected in their eyes. Amazing, isnt' it?
**Barb**