The Bad Dream, by Pat Severin

< Back to Issue #5


“The Bad Dream” read by Pat Severin.

The Bad Dream

by Pat Severin

Last night I had an awful dream
and I know why I did.
When Mom told me we have to move,
I was a real sad kid.

I thought about that move all day,
and when she said, โ€œGoodnight,โ€
the dream I had seemed really real.
To move from hereโ€™s not right!

So in my dream, like in real life,
my mom said we must move.
I got so mad and so upset,
I yelled, โ€œI donโ€™t approve!โ€

โ€œYou say that we are going to move?
But I donโ€™t want to do it!
I like my house, my room, my stuff,
and thatโ€™s all there is to it!โ€

โ€œThen you can move, โ€˜cause I donโ€™t care!
Iโ€™m staying here, not going!โ€
Theyโ€™ll miss me, and theyโ€™ll wish they stayedโ€ฆ
and when the grass needs mowingโ€ฆ

my dad will have to come and mow.
Heโ€™ll have to mow both grasses.
I know my mom will be upset
when she canโ€™t find her glasses.

Sheโ€™ll have to look for them herself,
in not one house, but two.
And since Iโ€™m mad, I will not say,
โ€œTheyโ€™re on your head…told you.โ€

And then theyโ€™ll see that moving stinks.
Theyโ€™ll see that itโ€™s a hassle.
Besides my dad has always said,
โ€œA manโ€™s home is his castle.โ€

He didnโ€™t mean some other house.
I know that he meant this oneโ€ฆ
but then God whispered in my ear,
โ€œBe kind to them, my son.โ€

โ€œYouโ€™d be the saddest kid in town
without your mom and dad.โ€
You wouldnโ€™t have them here to share
the kind of day youโ€™ve had.โ€

You mean when I get off the bus,
the stuff about my day?
Iโ€™ll have to keep it to myself?
โ€ฆThings sure would stink that way!

โ€œThey both would live in your new house
and youโ€™d live here alone.
If you would want to talk to them,
youโ€™d have to use the phone!”

Thereโ€™ll be no one ask for help
when science has me stumped,
or no one who would run back home
if I forgot my lunch.

Now, wait a minuteโ€ฆ
Thereโ€™ll be no one to make my lunch
and every other meal.
I guess if I was by myself
without them, it would feelโ€ฆ

so empty in my house alone.
I love them both a lot,
and no place is a home without
the mom and dad Iโ€™ve got.


About the Poet

Pat is a retired Christian school teacher who has always found inspiration for her poems from her faith and her love of people and children. She is currently published in the Christian Magazines, The Agape Review, The Clay Jar Review, and The Way Back 2 Ourselves. She has also been a featured poet in many of the Southern Arizona Press anthologies. Additionally, she is one of the contributors to the books Chicken Soup for the Soul and Perfectly Imperfect Rescues and Their Humans. Her personal ministry is sending encouraging poems in her original cards to people going through difficult struggles.


Next (Poem: My First Christmas in Heaven) >
< Previous (Poem: This Takes the Cake!)


Image is in the Public Domain.

Create a website or blog at WordPress.com

Up ↑