For the past few years, Chicago’s Swedish Covenant Hospital has sponsored art exhibits that feature work from patients. In 2010 and 2011, I submitted poems that were featured in the exhibit and the published book which contained copies of all submissions. This week, I am sharing those pieces. Below is my entry (“The Defiant Dreamer”) to the 2010 show, Dreams of Healing.
—
I was born to dream. But
Hope is often interrupted
And temporarily replaced by frustration and anger.
Vacations are spent in the hospital, and food is replaced by
Ensure.
Consciously and unconsciously, I ponder and wonder if my concept of
Reality should change.
Obstacles litter the path to my dreams. Pills, procedures and pain make
Hope seem pointless.
Nevertheless, I was born to dream.
So I dream.