As I walk alone, sometimes I hear
The sound of voices getting near
And, in the mist, I’m full of fear,
As brown leaves on the ground resent,
The cold, relentless beckoning torment,
Of Old Man Time, making young trees whine.
(And whilst Mother Nature sheds her tear,
Things of the past I hold so dear,
Menacingly reappear ... )
A young girl’s heart I think of then,
And in my mind recall when,
Our lives were wholly black and white:
No shades of grey within our sights.
Again, I shudder as the North Wind blows,
But the faithful, mellow street lamp throws
Its light through the mist, so hazy,
It makes me feel relaxed, quite lazy,
So Old Man Time seeks another face,
To confront, to menace ...
And to steal more grace.
Author's Note: Old Man Time was written around 1983 and is set between Coleorton Crossroads and Sinope on the old A50 in Leicestershire. The boy has discovered his love for a girl and has crept out of School House at Ashby in the early hours, to think and reason. His mining father has scorned at and forbidden his son’s love for the southern girl from a rather more conservative background than his own. Besides, haven’t his parents already ‘approved’ of a suitable young lady in his native Penrith?
Poetry Atlas has other poems about Leicestershire.