“Go on you, get out of here,”
The storekeeper shouts wid a sneer
Old man stumbles widout a say
Resigned to it day by day.
I go on to him and say “what’s up?”
Don’t have a plan, just talk some stuff.
He looks past me, eyes rolling round,
Tries to talk, can’t make a sound.
How do I say what I feel?
Something deep, something real.
Want to say, “you all right,
You child of God in His sight.”
He’s filled wid crap filling his ears
So much garbage, he can’t hear.
Want to do something good,
But he sees a kid, one of the hood.
Nothing to say, no wisdom to share,
I walk with him, it’s all I dare.
The silence with us just grows strong
We do nothing but walk, it’s seems so wrong.
We reach the alley, his home tonight.
I look around like from the height.
“Thank you,” he says “That couldn’t be fun.
Walking with me like you my grandson.”
I say good night and shake his hand.
Respecting him on holy land.
Images above and on front-page mastheads: by Mary Jane Miller — new work from the series “Line, Blue, and Halo.”
Words above: “A newOld Man” by Nathan Blackwater, a member of Spirit Journey Youth: an Episcopal Native American youth group in Northern Arizona. You can see some videos from Spirit Journey Youth here.