Fading Utopias

 

When I was a youth,

back in the fifties

there was no gas shortage

a family could afford a home and a new car

on a single person’s income.

 

I saw the future as a continuation

of the expectations my parents had,

graduating from high school,

then college or military

before finding a career offering good pay

and marriage, home, kids and vacations.

 

It was the portrait of middle class utopia

having a little slice of Americana to call your own,

living in a community filled with safety and peace,

just enjoying each day and the fruits it offered.

 

Then after High School the Vietnam War loomed,

though I was spared that challenge,

the world seemed to change afterwards at home,

first came the recession and evaporation of job choices,

followed by the escalating prices of real estate.

 

Slowly going from looking for career to just having a job,

settling for an apartment and compact car,

found someone to share my life, but we both had to work.

 

As the decades have gone by

my idea of paradise has shrunk to smaller levels,

have a home now, but not worth what I owe on it,

blessed to be employed when many our collecting unemployment,

sharing our house with my son and his family

because their incomes aren’t enough to even pay for an apartment.

 

Through it all, I found my idea of happiness had evolved,

discovered a passion for writing and exercise,

learning love and relationships were more a source of joy

than whether we had all the toys we once craved.

 

Spending time with my two year old grandson

watching his eyes glow at cable channel kid’s show

realizing reality has changed and priorities too,

yet still doing what I can to inspiring him to have hope

for you are never poor as long as you don’t quit believing

times may bring their problems,

but you don’t have to give up on dreaming.