Poor Man's Simple Luxury

A Poor Man’s Simple Luxury.
.
It was on one glorious summers day
To savour and to treasure
One of those blissful days
You hoped would last forever
.
I was idly watching the world go by
In a city park
When suddenly someone caught my eye
A dishevelled old man I could tell by his look and clothes
Was a homless vagrant vagabond
And a man of the road
His hair unkempt and matted
His old overcoat had patches to cover the holes
His worn shoes looked like a gapping fish
I could see his toes peeping through
.
He was perched on a bench
Probably his makeshift home
With his belongings in carrier bags
Sat all alone
His tar stained fingers clutched a smouldering
Roll up cigarette
And what he did next
I’ll never forget
.
Suddenly he raised his face to the sky
To catch the warm suns rays
And with a hint of a smile
He closed his baggy eyes
The light highlighted
The furrows and wrinkles formed over the years
Eteched on his face
But he didn’t care
For this was his special moment
In a wondrous place
.
It made my heart smile
As he enjoyed the pleasant sun for a while
.
It was then it suddenly dawned on me
This man had so little in the world
But for one special brief moment
He was happy basking in life’s simple luxury
Something even he could afford
And the best thing of all it was free
.
I looked away for a moment
To search my pockets for money
My head to the ground
And when I looked up again
Money now found
Was an empty bench
And a burning spent discarded cigarette
And a magical moment I’ll never forget
.
For I learned there are something's
That money cannot buy
I should be grateful and treasure the simple things
And how lucky and fortunate was I
But unlike me
His life wasn’t so complicated he wasn’t shackled
Although his life maybe tough
He wasn’t a caged bird as I
For he was free.
.
Peter Dome©2021.