I Wanted (Dedicated To Imperial Rain) Poem by Paul Reed

I wanted that moment

The glory at the peak of one's senses

To rouse the passions dormant

To smash one's own defences;



I wanted to put my face to the breeze

To smite life on the chops

To have run my finger along all the keys

And pulled out all the stops;



Like a volcano welling up in me

Like a boiler bursting with steam

I wanted that moment to be free

I wanted to live the dream;



To feel the adrenalin surge through my veins

To set fire to the very sun

To have taken hold of life's reins

To have run the race - and won!



My lifelong friend, my chestnut mare

In you my hopes were planted

You knew I wanted that moment rare

The wine of victory decanted;



Of course from my dream I awoke

My reaching out left incomplete

But then, through the swirling smoke

My moment arrived - in glorious defeat.