Dreams Poem by Paul Reed

Grandsons, you lay young on soft pillow
Your contract with the future to make,
The inrushing of new thoughts has tired you
And running caused your legs to ache,
But with your years ahead of you
You will spring afresh at daybreak;

For me, the invention of my youth
Came with the antidote in age,
The dawning of the new day
Replaced with futile rage,
The freedom to run and skip
Caught in an invisible cage;

That first early glint of life
That hope and aspiration feeds,
With the rushing by of the days
Time and the future bleeds,
And all the experiences gained
Slowly the memory exceeds;

Immeasurable time has become
A mere moment from an aeon,
Now in the register of beloved names
On whom the sun once shone,
I am stood here all alone
For one by one they have gone;

But like mine, their spirit
Lays alongside you in your bed,
And is restoring and enriching
The dreams that fill your head,
And our youth, though now departed
In you will never be dead.