Contemporaries Poem by Shalom Freedman

CONTEMPORARIES

When Dylan was rising with his miraculous caw
And Streisand in the early glorious beauty of her voice
I was dreaming my dreams and getting nowhere-
All through the years
And in various ways
They have made a record of what they have done
While I dreaming never got on the board-
Now if I make it
Which I most likely will not
I will still never have all those middle years
And the long record of so many different phases-

Dreaming is not enough
And working is not enough
‘Giving it over' is essential
And I did not do it-

The story of their lives is traced out in their works
I have no story
I have no middle years
They did it
And I did not.