To the dreamers
with crushed spirits now
in the face of the world’s pain:
I see you.
This world lately
has betrayed your dreams,
banished your vision,
rejected your efforts
even though it needs you
more than ever.
All throughout history
decisions have rarely
been made by the wise.
And the biblical prophets
constantly cautioned
but were rarely heard
in their time.
What to do
with a dream deferred*
when the dream
is an enlightened world
and the world tumbles back
into darkness again
and again and again?
It seems
human beings are generally
terrible stewards
of our own redemption.
But your dreams
were not for nothing.
They were for good,
and on the cosmic scorecard
no doubt
your efforts have been noted.
Even this dark world sometimes
takes an evolving leap forward
just as you imagined it could —
even our sorrow and pain
eventually leads to light.
Oh dreamer,
rest your weary head
cry out the sorrow
of a broken world,
as so many dreamers have
before you.
Today is not the end.
Though they stumble again
and again,
over time there is learning.
The moment
for your renewed contribution
no doubt is returning.
Keep faith
with the brightness
of all things good,
with the vision you saw
before its collapsing.
Give your heart again
when you can.
The vision, you saw clearly…
it is just a while
early.
*A reference to Harlem by Langston Hughes
