The Young Fellow Said To Me

The young fellow said to me mister you must be a very old man
What hair you've got left on your head gray as silver of time you have lived quite a span
You'll soon have a date with the Reaper the farewell bell soon for you will ring
Too young to understand or to know that age is a relative thing.

A young boy of ten or eleven one of forty in his eyes seems old
To him one like me much older than that must seem quite ancient to behold
Too young to be sensitive to others feelings and too young to know much about ruth
Yet young people can be so honest they do speak what they see as truth.

To him I looked as old as Methuselah and though in years I am well past my prime
He does not know that the longest human life is not long in the face of time
In life he has so much to learn and of life we all have much to know
Each day that we live we grow older but few of us wiser do grow.

The boy said to me you do look old the years have left you looking gray
Like most young people he was forthright and honest he meant every word he did say
I said to him age can be relative though he did not see it that way
He is a young man of the future and I have known a better day.