A letter came
by airmail
the other day in which
the writer contracted
to eagerly cherish
“anybody’s dream.”
Anybody’s dream!
Everybody’s hope!
Think of it.
Your noblest dream of
joy and brotherhood in
the hearts of all men,
mine of the peaceable
kingdom, child-led
lion and lamb
and all
our individually-packaged
bite-size dreams
which would suit
no one else
but ourselves–
all these
all these dreams are
already cherished
right here and now.
And there must be
a thousand other pens
poised at the same time
with the same
fond message.
And a
thousand thousand
other heads to
nod in agreement.
For
while one hand wrote it
many can read
this truth in their
own hearts
that the cherishing of
another’s dream
is the sure guarantee
of one’s
own.
Margaret Tsuda’s poem appeared in the Christian Science Monitor of April 28, 1972, and in the collection Urban River, published in Newark in 1976.
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