a man's nine lives (needs rewriting)

just like a cat this man,
he seemed to have nine lives
and made himself a new one
when others took one away

when he was young he dreamed
of a long-linear-healthy life
in which he would take care
of the land of his father

he went to school to become a lawyer
though and even practiced a few years
before he was disbarred
for the reason that he was born rich

they took his land away from him
so he was rich no more
he had to work for a piece of bread
with his hands - in a mine

when he had done his years he was freed
and he worked a cool job - again in the light
where the country was rebuilding itself
with his sweat, everybody's sweat

this all had to happen in a bare place
100 miles away from the city
his kids and his family
but he worked 6 days a week on the construction site

and he was happy to breath
air, read a book on train
who was carrying him home
at the end of every single week.

later on things got better
and he was starting to bloom again
when life decided it was time for him to retire
spend his days at home, where from the children had already left

to open their own new horizon
individually crafted (or so they thought for a couple of years);
and he opened a book, and he went to the church
with a candle to light up the past

he went far into the past
perhaps from fear of hurting somebody's feelings
if studying too much the present
or the not too distant future and past

he became a student of history
and a writer of lives, as they occurred to others
to whom we relate since we live on the same land
and all these despite of our laughs

and now that he is gone
we shall remember him when we see
the symbols that he deciphered
the symbols of a time we like to call a noble past

he lives through his writings
he lives his ninth live
that he may not have dreamed when he was young
and thinking of one linear life.

this man who like water
took the shape of the places he was thrown in
worked on building his own life while others
were thinking they imposed one on him.