The Untold Story of a Silhouetted Old Man on a Starbucks Coffee Cup

by Joshua Renzi

Snagged by thickets and brambles entwined,
vines and roots tangle and twist coupled
with the hollow thump of an old man hunched
limping on his stiff leg, his walking stick held
fast to his side, wiping sweat from his brow.
With thorn tattered clothes and a determined face,
crunching leaves and twigs he trudged up the hill.
The autumn air breathes death on the forest life,
he knew when he set out only water would do,
for he knew this journey was to be his last.
Light began to spill through the gaps in the brush,
the smell of the salted air brought him to his knees.
He scrambled up the knoll and through the clearing,
his crinkled eyes began to water as they were filled
with the sight of a derelict cottage made of stone
overlooking the sea where waves crashed against
the jagged cliff, his walking stick abandoned.
He used to live here, long ago with his beautiful wife,
full of color and spontaneity. Tears stream into the lines
of his cheeks as his memory floods his aching heart.
She died some time ago, in his arms, by an untold illness.
With feeble hands clutching the grass, he simply wept.
Upon dusk, he crawled onto the porch and into an old wooden
rocking chair. He died that night, the wind still sweeping his hair.

Published in the 2009 issue of the Lee Review.