Dizzy Goodfellow's White Horse

He came from the Dust Bowl in a terrible time When his family were stricken with broken, dirt covered dreams. The patchwork wooden shack they slept and ate in had all but tumbled To a fate no one could repair or even had the desire to. No crops, no means to grow anything to eat In this sterile, fruitless, barren land they called home- A time when the only thing farmers could harvest was your dreams. There was very little left in his world except suffering. He was a good boy like his name, and a small boy, not born that way, But fashioned by his lack of sustenance. His life was laden with monumental emptiness and boredom Enduringly waiting for better things to come. He would make his own toys to play with Out of anything that was some sort of surplus in his world of poverty. And when he had nothing more except himself, His idleness was spent by creating a circle dance- A spiral game, to turn his spirit into a liberation to his salvation. Singing a song he would bring his feet together to shuffle side by side While creating his whirling motion like an old "spinning top" he used to have. Round and round he would turn until he could turn no more To finally stop as if some invisible force straight up and grabbed him. His world spun around him, magically becoming a carousel Where he heard music, laughter and felt giddy happiness As he rode on the great white horse of his choice Traveling with this bright and joyous carnival fancy Taking him to a place where hardship lost its meaning. He would perform his dance time after time No one ever really cared about it, After all what was a young restless boy to do? They never called him by his real name - Johnny Goodfellow They always called him "Dizzy" A name that would stick with him his entire long-lived life, And follow him on a distant road of misadventure Hard work, uninviting places, and downright unfriendly folks....... But it didn't matter - he had learned early how to make his world alright September 2, 2019 "Bring a Character to Life" Poetry Contest Sponsored by: Richard Lamoureux