Favourite Poems 4
The hooves of the horses -
is the music earth steals from the iron-
No whisper of lover, no trilling of bird,
Can stir me as hooves of the horses have stirred.
They spurn disappointment and trample despair,
and drown with their drum beats the challenge of care,
With scarlet and silk for their banners above,
they are swifter than fortune and sweeter than love.
On the wings of the morning they gather and fly,
In the hush of the night-
The horses of memory thundering through
With flashing white fetlocks all wet with the dew.
When you lay me to slumber no spot you can choose,
but will ring to the rhythm of galloping shoes,
and under the daisies no grave be so deep
but the hooves of the horses shall sound in my sleep.
Daydreamer, where are you?
Your eyes are open
But focused on another world.
Your face is before me
But your mind is somewhere else.
Dreaming. Dreaming.
I do not know where your thoughts are,
But I know how the journey is made
For I am a fellow traveller
On the paths that lead to dreams.
Sometimes it’s an escape,
A flight to happier times,
A visit to the past
Where memory has erased
All that was regrettable or sad
And preserved only laughter and happiness,
For memory is a comfort, a blessing
Where all the love, the conversation
The days of sunshine
Are waiting to be relived.
Memory is a treasure store,
A casket to be opened with joy,
My own version of the truth
As it seems to me.
Or is it fantasy that I fly to?
Do the things I long for
Become reality in my mind?
Am I on a trip to the place
Where imagination rules,
Where what might be, is?
Building castles, sailing seas,
Making speeches in my head?
Have I inherited a fortune,
Distributing with largess to family and friends?
Or do I dream of the attainable
Of what work and thrift
And love and care might bring,
Of all I could give or share
With people in my life?
For then ‘dream’ is another word for hope.
Lord.
I am grateful for the dreams of memory
For the wealth of good things remembered.
The source of comfort when days are lean.
I rejoice in the ability you have given
To live in worlds beyond my reach.
But this day turn my dreams to living hope
That the day will be blessed
With dreams that come true.
May this day be a good day
May every smile be returned
May conversations be without malice
May my work be worthy of the gifts
You have given me.
May my friends be happy.
May the sorrowful be comforted
May the hungry be fed
May my sins be forgiven
So that I may rest in peace
To dream again.
Frank Topping
The hooves of the Horses
Dreaming