Childhood Dreams
Do you still remember?
Dear Childhood Dreamer,
Remember how you once believed in everything?
How, to you, anything was possible?
~
Remember the sparkling row of track medals hanging in your bedroom?
And how fiercely hard you worked, certain one day, you’d bring home Olympic gold?
~
And remember that novel?
The one you were going to get published and see on the shelf at the library?
~
And remember that perfect house on Riverview Drive?
How you were going to live there and have a flower garden with a pond?
~
And remember the cat?
You haven’t forgotten the gray tiger-striped tabby, have you?
~
Do you remember when dreams weren’t secrets and time wasn’t scary?
And instead of getting farther, your dreams could only get closer?
~
You remember, don’t you?
~
As I approach the threshold of middle age
I feel the cynical adult emerging
Wrapping narrow fingers around my shoulders
Pulling me towards the masses flooding by
Content to go through the motions of mediocrity
~
This spiteful wraith tells me it’s impossible, pointless to try
It creeps in at the corners
turning dreams of gold and polished silver
to practical stainless steel
Or, better yet, aluminum or plastic,
Then at least I won’t be disappointed.
~
I’ve been disappointed so many times.
~
And yet
I cling with both hands
to childlike optimism
to faith
to wonder
to Nature’s first green
~
Despite it all
I still hold on.
~
Yes, dreams can change, do change, should change,
but I don’t want to cheapen them, to settle, to forget.
~
Like a beloved grandmother welcoming the little ones with sparkling eyes,
I want to look up at my dreams, embrace them, and say,
“My, my, how you’ve grown!”
~
With Love,
Still a Dreamer
About the Creator
Ahna Lewis
Just a high school English teacher who never quite got over her dream of becoming an author. :)
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Comments (12)
Holding on to that dreamer self is one of the best things you can do 😁😁
Ahna, this is such a beautiful and emotional piece! I absolutely loved it! It’s amazing how we “forget” the invincibility of childhood- but it’s still there, buried under all of our thinking and analyzing (and responsibility). Such wonderful reminders in here! 💫
Ugh, Ahna this is beyond. You express this piece of our humanness with such authenticity. "And instead of getting farther, your dreams could only get closer?" This line really hit me in the chest. Where was 'the line' - we crossed it somewhere back there - when this shifted? Incredible observation. Thank you for sharing this beautiful piece with us. Amazing work.
Beautiful and totally relatable. Love this.
Awww! I think this is exactly what I needed to read on the back of The Final Final, dear Ahna. It’s such a beautiful reminder of childlike resilience. I love the dreams you have created for yourself and am cheering you on as you achieve them one by one 🤗
Loved this!! Your dreams are always possible until you give up on them. One of my favorite quotes is “Never give up, never give in” and that’s how I feel about dreams.
This was very relatable, thanks for giving us something to think about. As you know, dreams are attainable at any age, even the childhood ones that evolve over time. I've had some outrageous dreams as a child growing. At one point I wanted to be an astronaut. Even though I didn't pursue it, I love everything about space and could write a ton on the subject. Thanks again for the inspiration.
You captured that childhood innocence! Love love love that ending, ‘Like a beloved grandmother welcoming the little ones with sparkling eyes, I want to look up at my dreams, embrace them, and say, My, my, how you’ve grown’. ❤️❤️❤️
Right off, this made me think of two things. First, my wife has a friend who would say things like, "You're only middle-aged if you're going to live to 126." (Yes, I'm 63. I'm pretty sure your description of being middle-aged is much more plausible.) Second, do you remember the final scene of "Amadeus"? Salieri is being wheeled through the sanitarium absolving all its inhabitants, proclaiming himself to be "the patron saint of mediocrity." I love that line, largely because it strikes a chord with me. And yet, dreams persist. Even as I find myself continuing to evanesce (I love that word), dreams persist. May your dreams, my friend, continue to grow & produce wonders as voluminous & without number as the sands on the shore & the stars in the sky.
Simply beautiful Ahna. Thanks for helping my own memories flood back (they have further to go though). Such lovely imagery to lasso those feelings back with too. Superb!
NEVER SETTLE! You deserve to chase (and achieve) your dreams. I love this so much! ❤️❤️
Oh my Gosh please don't give up...SO very fluent. I have an EXTREMELY hard time staying on track...but...YOU KEPT ME, and relevant, thnx