Sometimes a thought comes at you broadside and knocks you for a loop. You start thinking about things, and pretty soon you’re sitting on the curb with your head in your hands. Eventually, you shake it off and finish the walk home; then write it down and show it to the world. A few of them will actually read it.
Dreaming Downhill
I remember topping the rise
Picked up a book one night
And the words were blurred
No warning
The boss laughed at me
Said I needed reading glasses
Oh
Dug in my heels
Thinking it was too early
I was too young
To start down the other side
Seemed like a long stretch of level
Should’ve come before the steep drop
Nope
Hit some rocks and flipped out
Into mid-air, screaming and flailing
Grabbed onto a bush
To slow myself down
Slid on my butt for a ways
Through poison ivy
Scratch
Dusted myself off
Zigged and zagged for a while
Going slow, making it last
Started wondering about the dreams
Forgotten… left behind
Should I go back for them
Sigh
Seeing I wasn’t dead yet, eventually
I decided, yes, new dreams
Easy ones maybe
But something to shoot for
Hoping the powder was dry
Trying to recall how many shots I’d fired
Days
And that’s where you find me today
Dreaming short dreams
Easing down the far side of the hill
The rainbow’s end in sight
Behind that next big rock
Pot of gold there… I think
Not
Copyright © 2012 C. Mashburn
Sharing this on dVerse Poets Pub’s Open Link Night #46 this evening. Wander on over there if you want to read some really good poetry. (Not mine, silly! There are real poets over there!)
Buy "Be Still" from WestbowPress.com
Marbles In My Pocket ~ The Official Blog of Charles L. Mashburn ~ Poems, Short Stories, and random thoughts from the author of "Be Still... and know that I am God" 
Deborah said
I like this a lot. Sounds like reality. Sometimes it bites. Ultimately though, the Lord has ways to make us shine. Even on this side of
the slide!
charlesmashburn said
I hope you know, it’s very fictitious; not about me, in other words. It’s all good over here, and I want to make a slight adjustment to your comment: Instead of on “this” side of the slide, let’s call it “His” side of the slide!
ordinarylifelessordinary said
This is great Charles, really enjoyed all the images here. Went on the assumption that the latter part of this was metaphorical references to getting older rather than an actual accident, but either way it was lovely.
charlesmashburn said
It’s all pretty much metaphorical. Everything is right as rain over here!
Glad you like it, and I appreciate the nice comment!
Sheila Hurst said
I can relate – dreams can be both wonderful and torturous – sometimes at the same time
charlesmashburn said
Yes’m they sure can!
Thanks for the visit and comment!
miss Laura Day said
You are certainly a real poet my friend…loved it!
charlesmashburn said
Thank you very uch, Miss Laura! You made my day!
brian miller said
smiles…i still hope you find your pot of gold…are we ever ready for the other side of the hill? i wonder but i am glad we can still dream on that back side you know…
charlesmashburn said
Yeah, Brian. This is all in the name of poetry, my friend. I dream like crazy, chasing that rainbow, and grinning like a loon. (I don’t even know what a loon is, but I guess they grin pretty good.)
Thanks for the visit and great comment!
claudia said
ah you never know…maybe there is a pot of gold waiting..smiles..and it’s important that we never stop dreaming..and hey…every once and a while we should dream big as well i think..just saying..
charlesmashburn said
It’s all good, Claudia! This is just one of them retrospectives, or whatever the word guy calls it. I’m cool, and livin the dream!
Thanks for the visit and comment. Always appreciate you!
Daydreamertoo said
Even the smallest bit of hope is still, hope!
Glad all is well in your world. I know what you mean about needing those glasses though …LOL
charlesmashburn said
Yes’m. Nowadays, I have about a dozen pair, just so I know one will be there where and when I need it! Jeesh!
Thanks for the visit and nice comment!
Heaven (@asweetlust) said
I can relate with your post about the glasses and dreaming dreams…at least that is what I do on a daily basis. Keep on dreaming Charles ~
charlesmashburn said
it’s a common thing at my age–the glasses. Well I guess dreaming is common too.
Thanks for the visit and comment!
leahJlynn said
Sounds like a real bad fall, glad you realized you were alive. Blessing you to continue on you.
charlesmashburn said
Thank you, Leah!
Sherry Mashburn said
Loved this, Charlie! Great title and it doesn’t matter which side of the hill I’m on, God is beside me. BTW, my favorite line is “But something to shoot for, Hoping the powder was dry, Trying to recall how many shots I’d fired.”
charlesmashburn said
Yes! I lked those lines, too!
aprille said
Definitely a pot of gold: you deserved it.
Liked the consideration of going back for the dreams, as if real objects, not to be left lying around unloved.
Would be nice if the apex was a little longer and wider and more substantial before the big downhill. Made me think of the chap ski-ing down Everest in ten minutes after climbing up it for days.
Nice punctuation to the stanzas.
charlesmashburn said
If that is the same guy I saw “ski” down Everest, he didn’t ski, he fell! That was a long time ago, though, so you might be talking about a different person.
Thanks for the wonderful comment!
Becky Sain said
Always wonderful Charles.
charlesmashburn said
Thank you very much, Becky!
Hannah Gosselin said
I think it’s so freeing to take on pov other than out own and I think you did an excellent job portraying this character, Charles!! That mid-life I hear can sneak up quick but on the other hand if peeps do what they want/need to be doing all along I think that point would be less harsh. Just thinkin’ out loud. 🙂 Thank you for this!
charlesmashburn said
I agree on the pov, Hannah. To me, writing is like acting, and I love to get into other roles. I’ve actually written love poems for others to give to their significant other–this can backfire, obviously. I do stories and poems from the pov of animals, too. I love that, especially dogs; they are such fun! I’ve done several stories and poems from the female pov, too. I love it all. As you can probably see, I just love to write!
As for the poem and the other side of the hill, it ain’t no thang. I love living as much as I love writing! There never really was a hill or a sliding down point; in fact, it just seems to keep getting better. Today’s poem just hit me while I was walking this morning–that happens a lot–so I just wrote it.
I’m rambling. I ramble, ya know. Somebody wrote a song about me back in the day. You probably heard it.
zongrik said
dreamers then, and dreamers now, that’s what poets are
spaceship tanka
charlesmashburn said
You are absolutely correct!
Thank you for the visit and comment!
Alex Dissing said
Dreams can definitely knock you on your butt sometimes. The good ones are worth the climb, though. I loved the poem and your setup at the beginning. In fact, I thought the setup was your poem at first and was pleasantly surprised to find more. Guess I need to put my glasses on… 🙂
charlesmashburn said
See what you might have missed! hahaha
Thansk for the visit and comment, Alex!
terri0729 said
😦 My eyes aren’t cooperating today Charlie and I couldn’t read the green letters! If you have a copy in black and white to e-mail me, I’d love to be able to see it! hugs, T
charlesmashburn said
Ha! That’s funny, “seeing” as how the first stanza is about not being able to see!
Raivenne said
As I read this I had the sense of someone waking up on their birthday and writing out thoughts of their life as they come to this certain realization. There is a peace in knowing the bottom of that hill is not an ending, but a much different beginning. I really like this.
charlesmashburn said
You got it right, Raivenne. This old boy has a firm grip on that peace you’re talkin bout.
Thanks for stopping by. Your comments always bless me!
siggiofmaine said
Fictitious or not, you did a marvelous write expressing the feelings of some people on the downward slide of life, or someone just having the aging blues. I think it is inevitable that many people get thinking about the fact that “middle age” is not sixty or sixty-five (ha!) unless they plan to be 120 or 130 years old. Twenty years of life seems an eternity when one is young. When one is my age, twenty years means, Holy s…. that means almost 90 ! So much to do, so little time.☺. Or, Charles, have I gone off on a wrong tangent again ? ! Sigh. Getting old is chicken poop.
(but the alternative is much worse !).
Peace,
Siggi in Downeast Maine
charlesmashburn said
You nailed it, Siggi! I laugh when people say 60 is the new 40. Like you, I think, 120-130. Me, I hope I don’t live to be 120! And, yes, I remember whenI was 20, thinking, “2012! Ha! This world won’t last that long!” Nowadays, I wonder if we’ll see 2013; much less 2050 (I’ll be a 100).
Thanks for the awesome comment on this one, Siggi. I always enjoy what you have to say about my poems!
poemsofhateandhope said
charles- i got here eventually! so sorry for my tardiness!- this is great poem…i really enjoyed its surreal flavour…its dreamlike quality. To me it spoke of reaching plateaus in life- or maybe corssroads would be a better description- it also said something about questions asked by time and age- as we get older does that mean we can no longer have dreams? no…of course not- but we do get that slight sense of panic in the pits of our stomachs at the though of our creeping mortiility. Once id read this poem- i found myself feeling actually quite upbeat- and you know- im goona do the things i wanna do even if people see me as some kind of eccentric old bastard!…great words Charles- seriously
charlesmashburn said
What a great comment, Stu. You got this one from start to finish, and it always makes me feel good when someone can see where I was coming from on one that’sa little bit tongue-in-cheek. I have a sneaky–sometimes sparkle-eyed-snarly–sense of humor, and it slips into a lot of my writing.
Thank you very much. Love your comments!