Young Is He Who Dreams

Young Is He Who Dreams
Dedicated to my dad, Charles

Sweet dreams of life I had as a child;
To love, to laugh, to be wild.
I soared above the rain and clouds;
And pierced the stars with dreams renown.
As keen as a cat, as big as a bear;
As majestic as an eagle soaring through the air.
As an adult, life’s strains got me down’
Lower then the fields on the wrong side of town.
Greener then the tobacco that grew;
I knew not what to do.
Then, alas, a child I did have;
An embrace, a smile, a laugh.
My dreams I did see in him;
My life did begin again.
You are never too old to dream ‘tis true;
To soar above the clouds in the sky blue.
But, alas, when your dreams stop your day does end;
Because you forgot to live and you lost your boyish grin.

Published in The Best Poems and Poets of 2003.