The Old Man And The Sea.

A few years back, but not too long ago.

I saw an old man who sat hours by the sea.

He sat there with a wistful stare and dreamy eyes.

Hour after hour he sat; alone in his thoughts.

I walked by a time or two and said hello and then goodbye.

Still he responded not and just stared out across the sea.

He uttered not a sound; the oceans gentle roar his only friend.

I wondered of his thoughts; I pondered deeply of his dream.

Yet I found no conclusion; no answers to this the old man and the sea.

The tide now came and went; and the old man just stared and wept.

Then without warning, he raised a crooked and gnarled hand.

And he waved a salutary wave at that unseen and distant land.

He then arose and turned his sunburned back to the open sea.

Not once did he turn for a last look as he disappeared in a small grove of trees.

Who was this old man, and who or what was it in his mind did he see?

Was he a warrior of some foreign war and in his last days reliving his grief?

Or was he just remembering when he was a young man who sailed the sea?

I guess that I will never know who the old man could be.

Yet as I too turned to walk away…I heard a song in my mind play.

“Brandy you’re’ a fine girl, but my life, my lover, my lady is the sea”.

Hmm I thought, could he be the one who brought Brandy the finest silver from the north of Spain?

nah…it was just a song… or was it?

J. Allen Wilson 6/6/08

"Brandy (You're A Fine Girl)"

(As recorded by Looking Glass)

ELLIOT LURIE

There's a port on a western bay

And it serves a hundred ships a day

Lonely sailors pass the time away

And talk about their homes

And there's a girl, in this harbor town

And she works, laying whiskey down

They say "Brandy, fetch another round"

She serves them whiskey and wine

The sailors say "Brandy, you're a fine girl

What a good wife you would be

Yeah your eyes could steal a sailor

From the sea."

Brandy, wears a braided chain

Made of finest silver from the north of Spain

A locket, that bears the name

Of a man that Brandy loved

He came, on a summer's day

Bringing gifts, from far away

But he made it clear, he couldn't stay

No harbor was his home

The sailors said "Brandy, you're a fine girl

What a good wife you would be

But my life, my lover, my lady

Is the sea."

Yeah Brandy used to watch his eyes when he told his sailor's story

She could feel the ocean fall and rise, she saw it's raging glory

But he had always told the truth, Lord he was an honest man

And Brandy does her best to understand

At night, when the bars close down

Brandy walks through a silent town

And loves a man, who's not around

She still can hear him say, she hears him say

"Brandy, you're a fine girl

What a good wife you would be

But my life, my lover, my lady

Is the sea"

"Brandy, you're a fine girl

What a good wife you would be

But my life, my lover, my lady

Is the sea"