poem, poetry

One Life to Live

One Life to Live

“Tell me what it is you plan to do with your one wild and precious life,” asked Mary Oliver.

I shrugged, put down cup
rolled the question around some
no answer arrived

One life fully lived
what did that mean exactly?
Live with no regrets?

Need lots of money
travel all over the globe
ride tame elephants

drive race cars on tracks
live fast-a worry free me
running with the boys

Rocking at concerts
head backstage to the party
I’d flirt with danger

What about my job?
my apartment, my mortgage?
who pays while I play?

Who writes my stories
so characters don’t stalk me?
who achieves my dreams?

If they did win through
would they hand over my dream
beribboned and bowed?

No, I didn’t think so.
It’d be fun to play all day
hard work makes dreams true

I  lived one life safe
stayed within bounds, slogged to work
that’s the price of dreams.

My tale pained Mary
she didn’t understand me
my dreams were not hers.

I sipped my cold tea
its sweeter now from the wait
I watched Mary go.

My life was not wild
It was precious to me, how
fragile dreams can be

~ ~ ~

for Mindlovemisery’s Menagerie: Writing Prompt 153 collage #20

28 thoughts on “One Life to Live”

  2. Oh… yes dear. Dreams and realities are a bit opposites and your words make a lot of sense about those two. 🙂

    Love these:
    My life was not wild
    It was precious to me, how
    fragile dreams can be

    I can relate!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Me too! Thank you! Dreams and reality have always been opposites for me; they have never been able to cohabitate in my 9-5, M-F daily existence but I am working on narrowing that gap 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

  4. I love these. You brought out the stark contrast between dreams and reality so well. I particularly love the lines ‘tea getting sweeter in the wait’ and ‘my dreams were not hers’.

    Liked by 1 person

Comments are closed.