You never know what you’ll find at the beach.
Chances are you’ll see some shells and some birds. Maybe one day you’ll find a poet.
That’s exactly what redditor Dirpleirple said happened to him four months ago during frequent trips to Bean Hollow State Beach in Pescadero, Calif. Walking down the beach, he ran into a bearded, middle-aged man. He was homeless, apparently.
Dirpleirple made a deal. In exchange for some money, the man would recite a poem, Dirpleirple wrote on Reddit.
On April 21, Dirpleirple brought $20 and a video camera to record the man reciting his poetry. He wanted to make sure the man had his voice heard.
“The absence of success hurts,/ Holds me depressed, yes./ I do poses an ability to progress/ And got less. My best not to regress,” said the man in a video posted on YouTube by Dirpleirple.
Dirpleirple posted the video on Reddit for a second time Tuesday in hopes of getting the poet some more attention. And attention is exactly what it got, collecting more than 350 comments and 2,600 upvotes in just a couple of hours.
The Daily Dot has reached out to Dirpleirple for an interview and is waiting to hear back.
“You deserve kudos for not being afraid to talk to the man and respecting him despite his financial situation,” commented WeAreGods.
“Dude should be doing poetry slams,” wrote shitworms.
One Redditor even took the time to combine the video of the poet with a track from Jedi Mind Tricks.
The poet has been lovingly called “White Ted” after Ted Williams, a voice-over artist from Cleveland. Williams became a national sensation In January after a video posted on YouTube caught the attention of Reddit, The Today Show and the Cleveland Cavaliers, who offered him a full-time job and a home mortgage, according to AOL News.
But let’s hope Williams and the poet are only similar in name and God-given talent. Because shortly after William’s Phoenix-like rise to fame was matched only by his quick fall. In less than four months after the man with the “golden voice” was found on the side of the road, he checked himself into rehab for alcohol abuse and lost his job with the Cavaliers.