Old man sitting down by the river
Blue eyes peering out at the dawn
His brown, bristly beard all a-quiver
In his hat sits the plume of a swan

See him dancing a jig by the river!
He's careless and carefree, alone
The Old Forest's gentle care-giver
As old as the moss-covered stone

Old man watches leaves float downriver
And heeds the sweet song of a wren
What missives the bird may deliver
Transcend far beyond others' ken

His Lady he found by the river
Golden and fair as the sun
His heart long ago he did give her
Two gentle souls living as one

Old man finds such joy in the river
The rock bed; the watery span
The breeze causing cattails to shiver
Sweet music heard since time began

What cares he what happens upriver?
His thoughts and his dreams are his own
Of our wide world, his is a sliver
Unseen and by 'most all unknown

Old man sitting down by the river
Blue eyes peering out at the dawn
His brown, bristly beard all a-quiver
In his hat sits the plume of a swan