Dreams Deferred

The tendency to defer dreams:
to put off,
to procrastinate,
to shelf away for later use.
All with good intention,
but does this good intention follow through?
It sits on the shelf,
in the dark,
simply waiting.
Anticipating the moment the dream can begin,
for it to take root in life.
To become a living, breathing thing.
It sits on the shelf
cold,
dusty,
dirty,
forgotten.

A man's closet is like one huge room
filled with a myriad collection of
such boxes. Each dusty and dirty
beyond recognition, some more than others.

The barely covered boxes,
the brightly covered ones
are picked up and opened.
While the older ones,
the least recognizable ones
are left alone.
These boxes are the simpler ones,
the plainer ones.
The ones from childhood.
These are the dreams deferred.

Written Winter of 2010