C. Douglas Caffey

THE OLD MAN OF THE LAKE

Down on the Mississippi
Gulf Coast
He has a breakfast
Of coffee and toast.
Says hello to two Boston Terriers
And then to his wife,
Who has added very much spice
To the Old Man’s life.
Then down the lawn
To the lake he goes,
Where the Canadians
And the Mallards
All squawk and chatter about,
Awaiting a daily hand-out!
Now if you think
This routine, you are right.
He’s not in a rut,
Just fine-tuning his sight,
And awakening from the night
Of darkness to light!
Geese and ducks need their feed.
Of grains and seed,
And the Old Man delights to know
That they are ready to go
Along the lake, or fly away.
No one holds them
To the shore
Where today they are few,
But tomorrow
May be more.

The Old Man can walk
Among the wild geese,
For they know he will
Do them well,
And his mission is only peace!
In this world
Of hate and mistrust,
Of moth-eating and rust,
Men need to know
There is another way
For them to go!
Like the wild Canadian geese,
Men must learn peace,
Among themselves,
And walk as brothers
Upon the common sod,
The generous gift of God!
The Old Man met The Master
Many years ago,
And now, many years after,
He walks with Jesus in his heart,
As down to the lake
He takes the grain
To ducks and geese again.
One day someone else
Must feed geese
Who now belong to God,
When the Old Man
Lies beneath the sod!
For there comes a day
When he can no longer
Stay, to feed the ducks
And geese,
And “that day”
He may walk away
Both, from the lake,
And this earthly tent,
Leaving tracks to show
Which way he went!