POEM : "The Ballad of a Dream"

I remember when you were just a kid;
You had so many Dreams then…every child did.
But you never knew what you wanted to be;
If you wanted to sit still or run wild and free.

Years later, your life is your own;
You shed a tear cause you must leave home.
You want to follow those Dreams across the miles;
And Mama let you go with a tear and a smile.

So you venture off to another land;
Dreams in heart, luggage in hand.
You’ve planned it all inside your mind
But you haven’t a clue…what’ll you find?

You take the chance, you walk the wire’
You dance between Reality and Desire.
Searching for an existence, searching for love,
You cry for reassurance from angels above.

Every smile, now an ugly frown;
One by one, those Dreams came crashing down.
You’ve worked so hard, you’ve climbed so high;
A little further, you could’ve touched the sky.

A nasty fall you had from grace;
Deep red bruises, they scar your face.
Now what’ll you do?
Is this the end of the Dream for you?

With no strength left, you give up the fight.
In front the tube, you’re drunk every night.
In the daylight you stagger outside,
A car pulls up; time for another ride.

Look at what your life has become;
From a blazing star to being on the run.
I remember when you were young…when you were strong,
What happened? What went wrong?

How Mama cried the day she heard;
But no matter what, she trusted your word.
In the wrong place at the wrong time,
Now you’ve reached the end of the line.

Freedom warns you: don’t look back!
All you can do is hide in the dark.
Then one day the running made you tired.
The guardian in grey, he saw you and fired.

Now Mama sits silent and alone,
Her falling tears wash your marble stone.
She doesn’t smile, she doesn’t talk;
It’s as if someone plucked her life by the stalk.

Turning the faded pages of an old Holy book,
Heartbroken, it was the last breath she took.
Side by side, Mama lies with the kid again;
Together forever, no more agony, no more pain.

Upon each engraved chest, I lay down a rose;
It’s the kind from which Love and Life flows.
You and Mama, both now gone;
Only I am left to carry on.

Is it right, or is it wrong
For each heart to sing one lonely song?
If this is the result of following our Dreams,
Then the price we pay is much higher than it seems.


© 1997 Radica