LITTLE BOY'S DREAMS

… Maureen Clifford © The #Scribbly Bark Poet ...

He took off on a mystery tour along the beaten track

three hours to head around the world – to get there and get back,

but first things first, ‘twas something new and he must be prepared …

the essence of a tuna hot pot drifted up the stairs.

He thought that he might sneak a bit and stash it in his pack

always good to have sustenance, a little midnight snack.

A mournful cardboard pig stood watching silent from his desk

its eyes appeared quite questioning. Would this bloke pass the test?

He showed enduring promise; he had spirit but was young

and typically as most kids do he thought this would be fun.

You can’t put ancient wisdom onto shoulders newly formed

MARKET DAY... painting by Edwin Lord Weekes

and bright ideas have never yet kept a cold body warmed.

His head was filled with pictures bright of vastly different shores,

bazaars and deserts, camels, mules and pyramids and more.

Rich red and tasselled carpets woven there in dusty streets

where men in jalabiya strolled and people meet and greet.

Arabian nights had filled his dreams more nights than he could count

and somewhere in those desert dunes galloped his Arab mount.

He was only a little bloke – but oh he dreamt big dreams

and who’s to say where they might lead – if taken to extremes.

Did Lawrence of Arabia whilst resting in his bed

have dreams of glory visualized and running through his head?

Each journey of discovery that has ever been made

perhaps began with little boys whose dreams, life’s path conveyed.