A smile shows the age
hole ridden teeth
once that brilliant white
now reduced to yellows and gray

Whisper and he'll just look
richness beyond years
humility his gem
proud to be
nothing more or less

worn out bones
and aching muscles
urge him forward to continue

survive, live, he lived, he lives
telling tales of medicine turned
witchcraft today
by the oath he farms he'd swear

the brown dirt he knows intimate
fight for every inch of it.