“What If”

Dave Bentley (1967-)

What if all the stories we’ve been told

Fairy tales and nursery rhymes

Were played out on the world stage

Not just imagined in our minds

And the characters, heroes, and villains

Lived among us every day

What a remarkable world we would live in

It would be a wonderful place

 

There’d be star crossed lovers

Holding hands across the street

Kissing beneath the moonlight

Whispering words that are so sweet

While evil henchmen hunted

For some treasure they could steal

’til the brave hero captures them

A life of fantasy, a life that’s real.

 

The eyes and ears of little children

Stirred by those Once Upon a Times

To envision worlds of wonder

To transcend the bonds of time

Gazing ahead unto tomorrow

Leaning back toward yesterday

Resting still within the present

Living their story out today

 

There would be the swoosh of dragon wings

Cutting the silence of the night

And a princess trapped in a tower

Awaiting the arrival of a brave knight

Enchanted mirrors reflecting faces

Of the folks who search for fame

WHile sorcerers and witches gather

In a secret hidden cave

 

The things that dream are made of

Could be the things that life becomes

If imaginary creatures

Made our world their home

And the cheerful glee of children

Would be heard near and far

As fantasy meets reality

To see things as they really are.

 

“What If” by Dave Bentley (2016)