VALIANT DREAM
So, where do you go to
In your silent moments?
Which voice calls you home
When the moon falls down on the sea?
Alone is a place
Where the valiant dream
Takes time to question itself
It turns to the dreamer and says:
‘Is it worth a thousand sorrows
To break a promise to yourself
When knowing the same temptation
Might fulfil your heart’s desire
And be worthy of your pride
By another moral code?’
When the moon turns over the sea
And your dream is alone for a while
Which voice calls you home from the heart?
Surrender to that question
Let the passion in your mind
Forgive the faded hope that’s passing
Trade in sorrows, steal your pride
How the valiant dreamer
Transforms that silent scene
Bravery takes forbidden chances
To live a better dream
In your silent moments then
Have courage and become
The image and the eye
For your dream
And the dreamer
Are one
Tim Coburn
June, 2003
Copyright © Tim Coburn
All Rights Reserved
VALIANT DREAM
Notes
Valiant Dream is a self-reflective poem. About a year before writing it, my partner and I had separated and for me, it meant living away from our young children. It had been a difficult decision and involved stepping out into unchartered water. Self-reflective writing rarely knows its reason or direction – the act of writing reveals it. Reading aloud not only serves to share the poem, it also delivers a welcome moment of cathartic clarification, a feeling that the poem is done and can be left alone. Initially, self-reflective poems felt self-indulgent. I have since found them to exceptionally valuable in enabling me to feel liberated from the past and better equipped to deal with life’s unexpected surprises.
FIND YOUR VOICE
Writing a poem is an adventure into new territory. Poetic form has a different phraseology to conversational prose – it changes the boundaries of how we usually speak. For expressive clarity, poetry uses more imagery, metaphor and story. Words and meaning are more deliberately considered. As well as making sense in written words, poetry conveys its meaning in sound and how it makes us feel. To make a poem work, our vocabulary is stretched, our word hoard expanded and our vocal identity enriched.
The development of vocal identity extends to every aspect of your life – your voice is the medium by which you get things done. With communication and conversational skills so central to who we are as human beings, I have always been interested in the effect writing poetry has on the clarity, confidence and effectiveness with which we talk. I addition to sharing poetry and my reflections on it, I offer short talk and workshops for leaders, team members and technical specialists who want to improve the quality and impact of their voice.
If this appeals to you, please get in touch.
GET IN TOUCH