Long ago I dreamed

of the school bus stopping at

my door and children,

full of stories of their day,

coming home to cups

of steaming hot chocolate.

Trite perhaps, but fresh

for me. What I didn’t know

then was that the dream,

realized or not, would end, but

would live on in memory.

~

SAME POEM, SECOND VERSION

Long ago, before marriage

and before kids, I dreamed

of school buses stopping and kids,

full of stories coming home

to steaming cups of rich hot chocolate.

The dream and the parenting ended there

with stories and hot chocolate.

How much easier it all was back then

in my adolescent imagining.

                                                                             JDG