Sweet, young, Ms. Spero, with an eager look
Sat her class down on a carpet of blue,
“Today, my angels, at quarter of two,
You will construct your very own Dream Book.”
Sophie drew a gorgeous queen in her book,
Tom, the best doctor the world ever knew.
Ms. Spero prayed her kids’ dreams would come true,
And grinned as she tucked their works in a nook.
Now Sophie’s bones nearly tear her skin’s seams,
And Tom shoots needles up his ailing cells,
And some nights, poor Ms. Spero wakes and screams
When she sees the Dream Books that haunt her shelves.
For she couldn’t save us from our dreams,
And she couldn’t save us from ourselves.

When he was in second grade
He picked up one piece of paper.
And on it he drew a dinosaur
With a stubby green crayon.
And he handed it to his nanny
Who smiled and hung it
In a frame in his room
Where it protected his bed.
And just about every Sunday,
His dad took some paper
And creased its sides
With his sharp nail
Until it was a plane
That soared over their heads
And gleeful smiles.
And his father promised him
That every Sunday
They could fly their planes
In the front yard.

When he was in high school
He picked up one piece of paper
And on it he wrote his midterm
The morning it was due.
And he handed it to his teacher
Who frowned and vandalized it
With red dots and lines,
Criticizing his work,
Just like she always did.
And his father rubbed his shoulder
As he cried about the stress
He told his son not to worry
And to keep trying his best.
Then he picked up the paper
And creased its sides
With his sharp nail
Until it was a plane
That soared above their heads
And his son’s tear filled smile.

When he was in college
He picked up one piece of paper.
And on it he signed his name
Swearing that his behavior would get better.
And he handed it to his professor
Who scolded him once more
Saying that if it continued
He was guaranteed to fail.
And when the news reached his father,
He screamed at his failure son,
Which he had been doing a lot of recently.
And his son yelled back
While his words collided with his dad’s.
Because the screaming continued,
But the listening had never started.
Then the boy crumpled the paper
And slammed it to the ground
So there would be no planes
To soar above their heads
And their identical scowls.

When he was an adult
He picked up one piece of paper.
And wrote a proposal to his boss
While he sat in his office.
And as he went to deliver it,
He heard a frantic voice announce
A tragedy in New York.
And the news made him stop
Right there in his tracks
while he dropped to his knees.
And the office panicked
For the sake of their own safety.
But he only heaved in sorrow
Knowing his poor father
Who he hadn’t spoken to in years
Was on that plane
That had soared above people’s heads
And their frightful shouts
And crashed into the tower.

When he left home on Sunday
He picked up one piece of paper.
And on it he scribbled down
A eulogy for his father.
And he drove past his old front yard
Where many years ago
His imagination used to fly
Along with his paper airplanes.
And he arrived at the funeral
Where he delivered his speech
While the water sprung from his eyes,
Forming artwork on his cheeks.
But before they lowered the casket
he took his tear stained eulogy
and creased its sides
with his sharp nail
until it was a plane
that would rest on his father’s chest
and soar within their spirits.