The Dream

By John Weaver Whenever I dream of my little girl she runs and shouts and plays Like all the other children in all their boisterous ways I see her skip, I see her trip; I hear her laugh and cry Then when she’s had her fun, home she’ll run and into my arms she’ll fly With a great big hug and a teasing tug, she’ll cuddle me close and say ‘Daddy I love you heaps and heaps’ in her cheeky little way. Whenever I dream of my little girl, she’s healthy, fit and well With eyes alight and a smile so bright it’s really hard to tell That my dream is a wish and a longing, a hope for something new For her life to be one that is normal and able-bodied too. But then I awake and I have to forsake my dream for what is true That she cannot walk and she cannot talk like the other children do That she cannot shout and skip about and cuddle me close and say The things she desperately wants to, yet in her own special way… Instead she talks to me with her eyes and reassures me with her smile That all is well and I can tell that she’s happy all the while Knowing that one day in some magical way, we’ll play together and scheme And sing and shout and skip about…in an everlasting dream.