THE DREAM OF YESTERDAY

I dreamt a dream of yesterday
It's presence clear and strong
It told me of tomorrow
and the gift of right and wrong

It held me in its wonder
And smote me with its might
It growled its evil thunder
And soothed me in my plight

"Be gone!" my silence whispered
"Take all of it away,
Tomorrow is my mystery
And deceives what is today."

Its fingers grasped me tightly
And laughter filled my head
"Don't you wish for yesterday
And regret the things you said?"

My wincing heart then crumbled
And my dreams became a mist
And the things which I depended on
Took on their evil twist

"Come with me to yesterday
And view the things so wrong
I'll show you how such mournings
Are not where they belong."

A scrape of ungreased latches
The creaking of a door
My steps so slow and cautious
As I glanced toward 'before'

And then the dream stopped me
"Why follow what is gone.
The dealt hand of experience
Is where it must belong.

Temptation is to listen
To things that are not there
To brood on where the living
Was cruel and so unfair

Your heart is not broken
It only shed the shell
Of the hurt that you keep living
While you grapple with the spell"

The hand of my tomorrows
Gently touched my cheek
"You failed to answer rightly
But it doesn't mean you're weak.

For yesterday is always there
It cannot be ignored
And its memory will always raise
The acts that you deplored.

Follow not the voices
That lead you to the doors
where you locked away your past
and turned on your 'before'.

You are what you have been through
It made you what you are
The price you paid for yesterday
Will always have its scar

Let it lead you to tomorrow
And not toward the past
Feed it with the dreams you've made
And a love you know will last

And when you've learnt to have such faith
Your cup filled by 'today'
Then well oiled doors will let you in
To sweep the past away."

I dreamt a dream of yesterday
And I'll dream it many times
As I live in my tomorrows
'til acceptance becomes mine.

Copyright - Shammy Webster