LUDO PAUL PHOTOGRAPHER
THE OLD MAN AND THE DANCE
Pendet is a traditional dance from Bali in which offerings are made to purify the temple or theater as a prelude to ceremonies or other dances. Pendet is typically performed by young girls, carrying bowls of flower petals, handfuls of which are cast into the air at various times in the dance.
Kids are watching the scene, their eyes shining, people around, music playing... He is here. Who is he? What has been his life? What is he thinking ... I tried to imagine ...
" Watching this beauty, I think of the years and the love that I’ve known.
I’m now an old man and nature is cruel.
It’s jest to make old age . . . look like a fool.
The body, it crumbles, grace and vigour, depart.
There is now a stone where I once had a heart.
But inside this old carcass a young man still dwells,
And now and again my battered heart swells
I remember the joys, I remember the pain.
And I’m loving and living life over again.
I think of the years, all too few gone too fast."
He left as he came .. discreetly, in silence.
Poem from: Cranky Old Man (Originally by Phyllis McCormack / Adapted by Dave Griffith)
