Advice

Crows feet embrace his eyes,
A knowing squint, telltale signs of wisdom
Looking out, beyond the present
Into young eyes staring back in awe.

Waving smoke from his face,
Flippant yet defiant.
And the delicate, subtle stench of fine cognac,
Wafted lazily with each syllable.

You are too young to know
That the world has different intentions.
It's a sad state of affairs

when the world isn’t as sunny as it seems.

You haven’t quite learned
That fate shows no pity, no compassion
You’ll soon see nothing but grief around you

As chance metes out our consequence

Young eyes dim and lips begin to turn down
on the face of a crestfallen child

The man realizes the sails have been shorn

While his gaze softens , he says:

Now there, it’s not all that bad
There’s plenty of good in this world, take
This moment, this second, this very instant

Is worth all the pain I've experienced.