Last night I dreamt a dream of life, as I have but once before;
I dreamt I stood at the great earth's edge; upon a rocky shore.
The ocean stretched out far and wide; a deep and gentle blue,
Waves crashed upon it's boundaries end; forever trying to break through.

Three ships anchored just beyond the crashing surf, and safely out of reach;
Two with sails unfurled, and pointed towards the beach.
Upon their decks, unfolded sights familiar to my eye:
Of people who have walked within my life, and events from days gone by.

The first ship, showed me things as they were at the dawning of my days,
These events that I had long forgot, yet knew them all the same.
I saw my parents smiling down at me; safely tucked in their embrace,
Of childhood days exploring life, and the future I would chase.

The second ship, reveled my days as a young man on my own;
To reap the harvest of the earth, that God and man had sown.
I saw then too my wife and children; these greater parts of me:
They who grew and then flew off, and she; yet so young, taken by God's decree.

I saw the years of happy bliss; I saw the years of woe;
I saw the rekindling of earthly love; I saw my children's children grow.
I saw the sun begin its slow descent, beyond the horizon of my time,
And as if on cue; I saw the third ship's sails begin to slowly climb.

Unlike the two ships facing me, which were anchored beyond the beach;
This smaller ship which stood facing out, now stood ready and within my reach.
All that it was waiting on, was for its masters foot to meet the deck;
To claim the rudder and the wheel, and to chart its brand new trek.

For two nights now, I have dreamt this dream, and know the time is nigh;
For when I dream again tonight, my foot shall not be shy;
I will climb aboard and take the helm; chart the course; and loosen rope from rail;
And let the wind of true loves breath, journey me beyond the veil.

Tonight my love,
Tonight;
For you, tonight I sail.

© 2008

Painting by Caspar David Friedrich

I have never done this before, but at this particular juncture in my life, I feel the need to do so.

Get a new car?
Get a life?
Get over mid-life crisis?

No I've done those things already. What I need to do here is to explain my poetry; or at least my last entry, 'I Dream'. I have had many comments from family and friends about this particular piece and a lot of it is on the worrisome side.

No I am not feeling blue, black or any other color. My brothers comment pretty much sums up the rest of the comments in general; 'do not give up hope', 'Carpe Diem' and all that. Siobhan commented on the page and then asked, “Did you have a birthday or something?“.

Well Yes.

And No.

Yes, I am 11 days from my 50^th Birthday and No, it has nothing to do with the poem. I approach each birthday the same as the one before it; it is just another day that I need to pay the bills. I do not feel any older than I did 20 years ago and I am blessed with the physique of a Greek god (that has seen better days). True, there are many things in my life that I wish I had done differently and boy, if I could just turn back time...

But that is part of life and I embrace the regrets the same as the triumphs, as long as we grow and pass along our lessons, we live a fruitful life.

'I Dream' was about just that; Dreaming. Dreaming of better things, better ways and new beginnings; even after we have shed this mortal coil, I believe life in some way continues. I am not going to argue the concepts of religious theology, New Age philosophy or any other 'ogy or 'phy. I do not have the answers, and neither do you. But I have a faith in the unknown and while we cannot conceive what what awaits us beyond this life, I know that life does not end here.

But I will admit to a measure of sadness in 'I Dream'; that brief moment of regret we may feel about our failures in life and that what we were and did will fade away until it is totally forgotten. A leap of faith is always tinged with doubt.

I look over the photographs of long ago ancestors and strangers and look into their eyes and wonder at the life that was. I love old movies, but when I watch them, I can't help but wonder at seeing the animated form and hearing the voices of people who are no longer among us and think, 'how can this be, they are right before my eyes'.

Yes I am weird, but I have never claimed otherwise. I have always had this sense of the people who have come before us. I can go into an old house and stare at an old scratch in a tabletop or long ago worn out steps and feel connected to those that made them, in that bridge between them and me.

When I go to cemeteries to photograph the headstones (see Through Her Eyes), I cannot feel but touched at what is the last earthly statement of these people. Many people, including close friends are creep'd out by cemeteries and think that I am nuts. They are afraid because they have doubts. I do not.

My fascination with the dead and death are not a morbid fare. I look at death as a celebration of LIFE, even when it is brief and tragic. When I look into a faded and yellowed photograph, I wonder about the lives that were touched by the eyes that look back at me, and if they were in my ascendancy, I wonder about what part of them exists in me. When we have children, we pass along a piece of ourselves into the recipe that is forever, a work in progress. We are made unique by the very people who came before us and the ones who will follow.

Poetry should do one of two things: it should either paint a picture as clear as a photograph, or it should have a separate meaning for each person who reads it. 'I Dream' is of the latter and for each person who reads it, my hope is that you will not worry about what I am feeling, but that it will have a special meaning for you. The month of May, outside of being my birth month, has always been a favorite time of year. It is a time of re-birth when nature has shrugged off the slumber of winter and we humans get out of our protective enclosures and enjoy the outside as it blooms and sings. This is the time of year when I usually go into poetry mode,and my subject matter will be for some, on the 'morbid' side. This is far from the truth.

So if you stop by and read my poems, my hope is that they will have some meaning for you and at the very least, that you will enjoy the brief moment in the reading. Some will have a sad note to them because that WAS the way I was feeling at the moment and from this side of the perspective, but like I said, that is how we grow and how we embrace the life we have here; not worrying about the hereafter, but the 'here and now'.

Of life, I have have some experience, But on the after life; I Dream.

I dream.

Between the mantle of my love and the armor of my hate,
I dream.

Between the sword of my needs and the quest of my desires,
I dream.

Between the truth of my knowledge and my faith in the unknown,
I dream.

Between the sunset of my age and the memory of my youth,
I dream.

Between the counting of my days and the immortality of my end,
I dream.

I dream.

I dream.

And when I can dream no more, because my days have come to pass,

My body will be covered,

My love will pass away,

My memory will fade with time,

My works will be forgotten.

And yet, within that quiet cradle,
I'll dream.