Ruth Desjardins All my dreams of success, and of joy, and of love,
All my dreams of life and ideals–
When dreaming and wishing and hoping are strong–
Someday I can make them all real.
Are my dreams and my wanting all meant to be lost?
Must I settle for less than I wanted?
What happens without them? What hope can exist
In a life that is hopeless and haunted?
When my life is left empty because hope is gone,
When wishing is futile and done,
With no spark of a dream left over for joy,
What meaning in life can be won?
But dreams are not lost altogether one day,
They are slowly and daily betrayed…
Should I forever accept second best
And allow all my yearnings to fade.
Then I must learn to pretend to myself
I was silly with all of my dreams,
And nothing could matter so little to me–
Than the loss of all that life means.
And so I must reach out for joy all my life;
And I’m ready to pay the whole cost–
The greater the glory, the higher the price–
But none of my dreams will be lost.
Someday I’ll count up the dreams I’ve achieved,
When I’ve proved they can really come true;
Then I’ll smile to myself even though I’ll remember
The pain that I’ve had to go through.
All my dreams of success, and of joy, and of love,
All my dreams of life and ideals–
Still challenge and call me, still say I can win:
That someday I can make them all real.
Ruth Desjardins
1977
1991
