My Parallel Universe Dream

In my parallel universe,
I'd like to think that I'd be more sociable,
I'd still look like me,
Just more happy and friendly.
Perhaps, by the age of 20,
I'll be finishing a degree in something artsy,
And I wouldn't have depression or anxiety 'til years later,
Because I'd have grown up with kinder parents
who didn't crush their children's minds. 
I'd like to think that I grew up in a different country
Like Greece or Italy or Japan,
Not a horrific place like America,
And I could speak at least two languages. 
Perhaps, in this alternate universe, 
I'd wake up each morning doing yoga,
Drinking tea, and enjoying an ocean, forest, or city view,
Wondering if, that day, I'd meet someone new. 
I can't be sure if I'd like to say that in this dream universe,
I'd find someone to love,
If I do, I'd like to think that I fell for them slowly,
That I resisted their charms and melted into them,
That they proved themselves subtly even as a friend
And that our love would bloom slowly over time. 
But, if this me also does not fall in love, 
I hope that I'd spend my days 
engrossed in creating beauty with my artistry
and reading book after book,
Fulfilling the lacking warmth with other worlds,
Maybe even filling it with friends who actually care,
Friends who take me elsewhere, 
Accompanying me in experiencing the world.

But this is one mere dream. 
Who knows what could be in my alternative reality?

Author's Note

I went hunting for some topics for poetry prompts. This is one of the ones I found. I decided to kinda try to make a poem based on how I'd like my life to be but say it's a parallel universe.

Reviews

[barleygirl]

The best thing: how your narrator can wish for a true love & at the same time be fully engaged in whatever the alternative to that might be. We can't count on love, so it's good to also forge ahead with one's life at the same time. This shows much maturity & balance.

This stops me in my tracks -- you describe the USA as "horrific" -- then you don't elaborate one bit, as if it's indisputable, as if everyone will know what you mean, since the USA is SO HORRIFIC, it's a known fact. That sentence really puts me aback, since I believe the entire planet has the same problems that the USA has, & all countries have bad stretches. We're certainly in one & it feels horrific to lots of people.

But to define our country as being horrific, that's a little too much "b***h" for my blood. Our country is filled with amazing human beings (health care workers, teachers, first responders, to name a few) who sacrifice a ton to make our lives richer & easier than in most other countries. There are silent armies working all over our country for the betterment of everyone. Don't you dare say the USA is horrific, as a point-blank condemnation. That is so unfair to the millions of beautiful hard-working Americans . . . the people are all that's right about this country.

But despite my strong reaction to this one sentence, overall your poem is a brilliant work of imagination. I am impressed with not only how your mind works, to imagine so much with such rich details, but then to express it in a mature & balanced way, so it doesn't sound like some unlikely pie-in-the-sky dream world blathering. Not at all. This sounds possible . . . & the way you depict it, this gives others the courage to envision such an alternate reality (((HUGS))) Fondly, Margie