Daniel and the Old Man

/ Daniel Swearingen


“I’ve still got a twinkle in me”. – Robert Plant

The spitting old man, just spit some more, sitting near the highway, someone you cannot ignore. His clothes they looked spun from an old weave, the kind done by hand, by a spell, you cannot see. And, everything about him was hard to judge, was he from the past or the future up above. The wrinkles in his face drew a roadway in my brain. A whispered little prayer about something strange. Oh boy, brother, here on thirty-four, on my way to Estes, I have seen you before. For some strange reason Robert Plant’s voice just darkened my door. I hear “Bob” say, “I’ve still got a twinkle” in me today, yes sir that is what I say, right now, my reflection is causing my energy to drain.

The spitting old man, just spit some more, he talks just a little than he talks a little more. The Colorado Cherry Company just lent me their porch, there is a change in his face as a shadow darkens the near door. “You look surprised to see me here”; he says looking up as the shadow draws near. The bones of my future or may be my past look to teach me something, as the shadow disappears it was not meant to last. “I am sent by something”, says the spitting old man, “that walks in beauty, and it sends you a test”. “It asks for self-evaluation, says the mean won’t do, the law of common averages are not for you”. “The “Ancient of Days“, wants to let you judge, if your life is beneficial, before the daemon comes and say’s, you don’t know much”.

The spitting old man, just spit some more, he suddenly stands up his eyes flashing neon, like the sign in the store. He says, “I’ve seen you before”! I know it then, suddenly, as the Big Thompson Canyon starts to roar.  I have looked into myself, and seen an elaborate sin. Seen my life growing colder, a lack of excitement within. No longer delving into the mystery of the child in me, to snatch appreciation and turn it to belief. I have strayed a little longer through the web of din, wrapped my arms into the clasp of where pain comes in. Stared a little bit too long into mediocrity, wrote the poem of a blind man that claimed oh woe is me.

The spitting old man, just spit once more, then he began to back away, until he shimmered in the door. He said, “Don’t get me wrong I’m leaving you alone, but I hope you set me free, let me be, one and done”. “For first he built the temple built it right inside of you, and now he builds the walls up higher to protect what’s true. “For I don’t really care, if I ever see you again, for if I ever do I’ll be trapped till the end”.

I looked up all around me standing outside that canyon store, at the mighty rock formations where an eagle goes to soar. And behind me flowed a river carving structure through the land, and I thought myself most fortunate to have seen the spitting old, old man! – 11.19.2017 – דָּנִיֵּאל


78 thoughts on “Daniel and the Old Man”

  3. Lovely prose, with a wonderful deeper meaning, my favorite line, “For first he built the temple built it right inside of you, and now he builds the walls up higher to protect what’s true. ” Well done!

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  5. I spent a good deal of time this morning reading and re-reading this wonderful verse you have penned Daniel. I took much of it to heart, encouraged thinking of this day is a good day to let the inner man live, as if it were “the first day of the rest of my life”, so as to speak. I told you but just a sonnet back, that you were destined, and upon reading this, I know my prediction is true. Well done, Daniel, let those walls be ever higher, your temple is done! Bill

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    • As always my dear friend, I am honored when you write to me. Your comments fill me with confidence that what I write has some virtue in it. If my destiny through this forum has brought me to me wonderful souls such as yourself. it is enough.

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      • Thank you Daniel, I feel the same. I believe I have told you before, I print your writings off, and often read them, especially those of a spiritual nature. Destiny is of a great value to one as they grow older.

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    • Thank you Charlie, for the life of me I didn’t know what a Bard was until a couple of years ago when another dear blogger in this forum introduced me to the it. Thank you for giving me the title again, i wear it with pride. 🙂

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  7. I am a first time commenter to your blog. I greatly admire your writing, and find myself coming back many times to read and re-read much of what you have written. Each piece seems to bear meanings of a spiritual depth, that I find intriguing, and wish to learn more about. I look forward to continuing to read your work.

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  9. Daniel, the “Robert Plant” quote “I’ve still got a twinkle in me”, never fit anyone better than it does you. I find personally that twinkle available in all you write, no matter what the subject matter is. This piece was wonderful, and I found the inner meaning helpful to my own life as well. Thank you.

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  10. Once again my brother you have written a piece that grips my heart and I can apply to my own life. Your mixing of story and spiritual dialogue is uncanny. I recently have been immersed in “The Returning Dove”, From the teachings of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai;, which teaches to the exact lesson you have learned from the doppelganger in your own experience. Your temple is ready my friend, for the great wall which Hashem will build with you. Blessing on you my talented brother. Shalom, Den

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    • Hi my brother, thank you as always for lifting me up, also thanks for telling me about “The Returning Dove”, I shall look for it. The idea of the temple being built first and then the wall is something that just came to me as I was reading the Zohar the other night. Funny growing up steeped in at the time Old Testament stories I always understood the temple was built first but I never thought about it in a personal way. i do so very much now. Shalom, Daniel

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      • Well put Daniel. This process of returning to our natural and spiritual home, is a very personal one. Often our own holy of holies have been desolated and torn asunder, and we have to rebuild anew starting with the temple. Your writing over the past year as well as personal events in my own life has led me to believe this is what is happening to both you and I, and I would dare say many others whom you influence with your reach. It is a great thing brother. Shalom Den

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  11. This is a tribute to faith Daniel, each word is packed beyond a story with spirituality, that I am somewhat envious and desirous of. It flows from your last post having to do with your son, and continues a charge that I doubt can be stopped. Well written my friend. 🙂

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  14. Well done Daniel, as you always do so well, in placing and linking local landmarks to the great beyond, and your own heart. A fantastic mixture, that many of us aspiring writers are envious of. I enjoyed you meeting your doppelganger very much and learned from it.

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  15. I remember driving up Big Thompson Canyon to Estes Park back in the summer of 2007, a magnificent canyon. Your writing of a personal event there, is maginificient, and having experienced the surroundings, it makes it all the more real to me. Well done!

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    • Hi Alex, it is truly a magnificent drive. It is closed presently for the second year in a row as the Colorado Department of Transportation mends the canyon road destroyed by the October 2013 floods. Thank you for your comment, and as always I appreciate your continued reading.

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  17. The following is me, “I have looked into myself, and seen an elaborate sin. Seen my life growing colder, a lack of excitement within. No longer delving into the mystery of the child in me, to snatch appreciation and turn it to belief. I have strayed a little longer through the web of din, wrapped my arms into the clasp of where pain comes in. Stared a little bit too long into mediocrity, wrote the poem of a blind man that claimed oh woe is me.” Thank you for waking me up. Loved this! ❤

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  19. Daniel, I hope you never run out of ideas for writing, because I am become so accustomed on a weekly basis to reading your material. The subject matter you choose never fails to amaze m, and I might add interest me. I loved this piece as I love them all. So fair warning if you ever decide to stop I will not be too happy about it! ❤ Ruby

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    • Thank you Erin. I am happy that the piece made you think in a reflective way. Each point in life for me has been different and each reflection at that point, is like tossing a coin in the air. 😉 Your comment was wonderful. Shalom, Daniel

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      • Hi Daniel, I often find reflections on life changing from day to day. It is difficult at times to look at each obstacle or happiness the same, for each requires a different presence of the real me. I believe we are on the same wave length. Shalom, Erin

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  27. Quick, someone get that Old Man a spittoon! He’s going to wreck the porch, and there may be Whitby Ladies crossing it one day.
    The past is made present in this prose, and the present must bow its head, with respect. Soon the present will be the past, and therein lies the mettle of the life you are living, Daniel. Me too, but it’s too, soon to know what I will come to.

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