Work Song, a poem by Ellen Lent

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Poems by Ellen Lent

Work Song

When we were five we all took our dreams to work
Our work was telling our dreams out loud and painting them on paper and singing them in songs
We told our dreams to our schoolmates and they listened, and they told their dreams right back.

When we were twenty we still took our dreams to work Our work was learning how to live, learning how you and you and you lived
And what your dreams said
Our dreams got us in the door
Our friends and teachers and lovers helped us keep dreaming
but sometimes didn't quite catch our dreams,
even when we lobbed them gently over the fence.

II.

When they opened the new door, they said, "We like your dreams, Write down your dreams, tell them to us"

But sometimes dreams don't come in words

We can try to tell our dreams
Maybe by painting a picture
Maybe by singing a song
Maybe by dancing a dance
Maybe by writing a strategic plan
(The vision thing is always hard)

Some people catch them quickly
They're trying to dream out loud too.
Some fumble
They forget that we're always lobbing dreams
They worry they'll catch a nightmare

III.

Dreaming in pictures is like speaking at the U.N.
Think about who needs a translation
It could pay off
If they hear your dream, maybe they'll remember to tell their own
Then we'll all dance a step or two