The old man stared in dismay at the aging figure
Displayed in the mirror
His eyes had dulled over the years
Grown cold

They lacked the aura of those youthful beginnings
When mischievous behavior
Celebrated the youth of the day

His skin
Sagging loosely
Hung from his neck
His mane of hair
Once dark and radiant
Now grayed into a yellowish white scruff
Draped around his unsmiling chin

Time is short
The old man thought to himself
And the mortality of man weighs heavily
On the daunting task
I have begun
And I am lost in a time weary race
To create
What I must create

The old man humbled himself

And began to pray

Knees kneeling deeply
Into the Earth of life
The old man beckons
With spiritual reverence
To his God above
A God he has cherished
With the bloodline of his soul
In an endless
Counting of years

He clasps his hands
And begins to pray

He begins a solemn chant
His body sways to the sounds
Of ancient lullabies
And symbolic rhymes
And he rocks
Forth to back
And back to forth
His will
His strength
His being
A living tenet to those who believe
In the sanctity of prayer

His body
Touched by testament
Awakens in spirit
And rebirths the imagination
Of the coming Messiah

Images of life
Born
By the clasping grip
Of eyes that close

Black in brightness
He enters a world
Blind unto himself
His vision of what is
Vanishes
Into infinity
And his mind
Alive with enlightenment
Disappears into creation

And he is inside himself

His dream is life
And he focuses
With thoughts of inspiration
On a fairy-tale ending
Where he is the hero
In an age that desperately needs
Heroes

He must bring invention
Into a world
That so desperately needs
His gift
To life

Rejoicing from within
He imagines throngs of people
Applauding his wisdom
And gracing the sanctity of his accomplishments
As they etch his memory
Into the vocabulary
Of their lives

The old man opens his eyes
He rises
He blesses his God
For the sanctity of life
And continues his walk
On the rock covered road
That he has traveled
Since youth itself
Was his guided path
And he steps humbly
Across the muddied path
That has traveled his venture
Almost before time

He lifts his head
Upward
Towards the sky
He is filled with optimism
And he enters the day
With visions of victory

The old man
Smiles
It is the dawning
Of a newborn sun

He greets his mates
As they tend to their toils
And he slips into his lab
He shouts a rousing hello
And the words of good morning
Echo back
They are happy words
Filled with the reflection of their love for him
And their admiration to his dutiful dedication
To those he has called friend

He reflects on his morning's prayer
And he knows that this will be the day
That special day
After
Years of striving
And countless defeats

A final solution
To the greatest mystery
Of his long and enduring life

His legacy
Born of curiosity
Lies on his desk
He studies it
It is bold and beautiful
His final gift of accomplishment
To the greatness of humanity
Before time
Encumbers his soul

So many years of dedication
Steadfast moments
Of impossible dreams
Spoiled moments of tarnished hopes
And misguided moments of utter failure
His dream
Born again and again
Into failure and flaw
Renews itself
And he does not succumb to the exhaustion of a weakened body

Day after day
He commits himself'
And day after day
He fails
Yet he pursues
Again
And again
And yet again

He squats low
And peers excitedly
Through the translucent glass
That surrounds his masterpiece
This time
Unlike all times
He must find success
His days are short
And his vigor
Diminished to a pause

He lifts
His creation
And admires its beauty
It is clarity in a golden bowl
His final gift to humanity

He watches steadfastly
As his crinkled fingers
Deformed by time
Grabs the lever

He pulls down the switch
And he prays

His eyes closed to blindness
He imagines the lights of hope
He opens his eyes
And it is enlightenment that he sees

Tears of joy
Sprout gloriously

It is the light
Of triumph
So bright in night
It glows radiance
In a darkened world
And all who could not see
Are engulfed with clarity
For it is the beauty in the night
That dawns a new civilization
Of Hope
And destiny
In the morning of the twilight
Of a new born day

He has achieved

His days come
And his day passes
His children's children
Tell his story
For he loves them all
In an eternity called time


He looks down
From the clouds
Into the sunshine of their eyes
And he knows with certainty
The meaning of life