Childhood Dreams

If faith can move a mountain, then it can save a soul.

 

 My granddaughter Payton. I bought her a new bear. She quickly took the green sweater off of it, put it on the old bear and cast the new one in the corner.lol She has my heart and well knows it. It's such a helpless feeling to be in her clutches.

If our faith can move a mountain

 then it should save a soul

To have untapped faith in oneself

is life's great gift and goal

 

Within all children lay a dream

to be more than their parts

To open gifts within themselves

warming their tiny hearts

 

Ask a small child this question

"what do you want to be"

Always it's seems there's something grand

through their minds eye they see

 

So where do all the lost come from

 who find their dreams have died

Then see their hopes all washed away

as if cast on the tide

 

No one can say with assurance

what happened to those souls

How all their dreams in life were lost

or for whom the bell tolls

 

If asked of me I would just say

truth is hard to admit

The mind is not a vessel filled

but a fire to be lit

 

Author's Note

Who can say with any assurance that they know where their life will take them?
But like all of us I too had dreams. Maybe they were a bit lofty. Maybe they were naive. We all know the boundless wonder of becoming an astronaut or fearless explorer.
However the man who crushes a child's dreams may as well have killed him.
Forever is the innocence lost. Forever will he doubt the word of all adults. Lost is the beauty of divinity. Lost the love of fair play. Gone the reward for decency, never to return. This is why we must take our responsibility for the young as a most divine effort and solemn responsibility.

Reviews

[Bubo]

I wanted to cry reading this having been the child who had dreams crushed at a young age, and how wise you are, for the essence of a child must be protected, nurtured and loved, for their dreams build worlds, and you are clearly a man of deep emotion, and a wonderful father.........your words were beautiful, and if every child had a father like you this world would be beautiful. Bless you Tate, for your wisdom and writing.

So where do all the rest come from
those who find their dreams have all died
With all their hopes then washed away
as if they left out with the tide
_________________________

[The Analog Kid]

I really like the first two stanzas the most. Self explanatory.

"To open gifts within themselves." Beautiful.

[emmajoy]

Yet another moving and lovely set of words .. full of sincerity and the need to show how you feel, what you are. Childhood is so precious .. it makes us what we become .. with love we flourish, with less we survive somehow ..

' So where do all the rest come from ~ those who find their dreams have all died ~ With all their hopes then washed away ~ as if they sailed out with the tide ' and those are the little ones who we need to watch for and help ...

[StoryTailor]

I wonder why it is you ask me to read these, you already know I'll respond to them in the same manner!

It's a beautiful piece, just like always. It's touching, and lifting, and pulling, and... kind of like the ebb of a tide. It tugs at your emotions softly, but you can still feel the impact.

I loved reading it, thanks for showing it to me.

[An owl on the moon]

I love the lifting nature of your write.. the dreams that come to life through the eyes of a child.. Your last lines struck me deep... "The mind is not a vessel filled.. it is a fire to be lit.." Powerful and profound...

[Kandy]

Wow. Incredible. You have no idea how much I can relate to this. As a young girl, I, too, thought I would be someone big. Somewhere deep inside I still feel the same way, but now I see things with the terrible truth. Sometimes, though, I wish I could go back, and be that innocent girl with big hopes and that big enthusiasm for life. I think I'd be more willing to get things done. Life would look so much more beautiful.
Sorry, I let myself wander off. As for your poem, what can I say? It was flawless. Great Job.

[Norma M Sutton]

This is wonderful.

[Tina Kline]

Children have dreams, sometimes they change, sometimes someone says something to destroy them or the child makes a mistake somewhere along the way while growing up that starts them on a downward course or just different course. Outstanding poem.

[life in a ne/on tube]

This was extremely well-written.

I know this isn't much of a review, but I honestly don't know what else to say. Not because your poem was bad, but because it was too good for words. It spoke hope, a hope for the betterment of a child's future. A mosaic of truth, longing, realization. This is poem is nothing whatsoever shy of amazingly beautiful.

[Dani]

I admit, I wanted to cry.. which doesn't happen very often. This is beautiful.