where have you been, dear sir, and what have you seen there?
pray tell, share news of that great wide world.
i shall, dear lady, but brace yourself; dreams and reality rarely meld.
i’ve seen christians and converts filing down the highway
their life’s possessions upon their backs.
i’ve seen a woman stooped, unable to take another step
and a twisted dwarf rush to help her with her load,
while the strongman stepped aside to watch.
i’ve seen the promise of tomorrow laid bare in a poker hand,
and the bleak future declared in a general’s promissory note.
one worth no more than the other; they’re both defunct.
i’ve seen the masses and the singles and the solos march by
each one walking a path harsher than the next.
you see this world as wide and wild, but my truth reads different;
your cloistered walls and sheltered dreams
are the stories of innocents. what would that stooped woman give
to trade life for life with you?
there is no grand adventure beyond your walls
but brutal life being lived.
what have you thought, dear lady, and what have you dreamed?
pray tell, share stories of your contemplative life.
give me reprieve for just one moment from that cruel world outside.
