Brothers

Two little boys left to fend for themselves
Snuck into the happiest place on earth
A great adventure was the plan for the two
An escape from a dismal reality

Pretending a castle their very own home
Their parents, a prince and princess
Loving and doting fulfilling their needs
They reveled in their implausible fantasy

Free to be free among the unaware crowd
Playing out their wildest dreams
Like Pan in Neverland chasing Captain Hook
In a tale where you never grow up

A glimmer of hope when a treasure they spied
Shimmering in a pool of blue water
Hoping to gather a pocketful of coins
To redeem for a belly full of food

They plotted themselves an incredible scheme
A good plan they thought they’d thought out
They’d stake their claim on the unclaimed bounty
(which in a child’s mind made perfectly good sense)

So they took off their shoes and waded in
Never to imagine they’d ever get caught
But indeed they did — by a big scary guard
Who hastily herded them off

A call to mom abruptly ended their game
As she stumbled in to take them away
They walked back to the park to their broken down car
Cause their car, was in fact, where they stayed

Climbing into the backseat they lay down their heads
While they shivered from the hunger and cold
That night their dreams filled with fantastic adventures
Only to awake the next day to reality

And the boys spent their days in one car to the next
In a reality of un-dreamable dreams
Out of gas, out of food, out of luck and ideas
Two brothers taking care of each other

sc 2011
Inspired by events in the life of a friend I am blessed to know.

Tagged poetry, Shelli Carlisle