April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month.
In that spirit, I thought I’d share a poem. It’s about a 2 minute read…
In truth, poetry was my gateway drug to writing novels.
This poem is essentially about a young girl. She lived within a fantasy world to escape reality.
Her reality was a nightmare.
Her dreams allow her to survive, and to have hope.
I hope you like it.
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Childish Dreams
I dreamed I won the Olympic marathon,
After 26 miles,
I ran into this big stadium,
Man-o-man – I won,
Everybody cheered my name,
Bright lights, tv cameras aimed at me,
I was important, you see,
I’m standing on the top stair,
I’m sweating like I just got out of a hot shower,
Gold Medal dangled down about mid-chest,
It felt heavier than I’d have guessed,
Then all these people played my country’s fight song…
It could happen,
Maybe,
Someday,
You never know,
But when I opened my eyes,
It was dark …
And I was all alone,
Alone,
I dreamed I cured Cancer,
I did in an afternoon,
It seemed so simple,
I showed my teacher just after math class,
I saved the bald-headed kid from certain death,
I guess,
And then we all played video games until my fingers went numb,
It could happen,
Maybe,
Someday,
You never know,
But when I opened my eyes,
It was dark …
And I was all alone,
Alone,
I dream a lot it seems,
Dreaming I’m dreaming,
I like day dreaming at school,
Dreaming I’m someone else,
Being anybody else,
But me … I do not want to be me,
I’ll keep dreaming in my hiding place,
My hiding place makes me feel safe,
I can dream there,
Dreaming someone would listen to me,
Maybe notice me,
Maybe be kind to me,
I don’t know why,
My dreams,
They grow inside my head,
Some dreams are small,
Some dreams are quiet,
Some dreams scare me,
I don’t like those dreams …
I run away from those dreams,
But, I love most of my dreams,
My dreams are my special place …
A place I go to hide,
I like to hide within my dreams,
Because, my dreams always welcome me inside –
I’m safe,
I’m smart,
I’m pretty,
My dreams never touch me,
Tease me,
Or scream at me,
My dreams always give me a hug,
My dreams tell me I’m loved,
My dreams could come true,
Maybe,
Someday,
You never know,
But when I open my eyes,
It’s dark …
And I’m all alone,
Alone,
But I’ll keep dreaming,
You know …
I won’t stop dreaming,
My heart promised me, so,
That if I dreamed big enough,
Maybe my dreams would come true,
Maybe,
Someday,
You never know,
I’ll open my eyes,
And I’ll be …
NS
So beautiful it brought tears to my eyes thinking of all those children who live in fear everyday. Great job, Robert!
Thank you… feel free to share. It made me cry as I wrote it. Hugs.