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I Dreamed It Was April
By Stuart Terman

Finally asleep,

dreaming that the days were getting longer,

I was recently taller along with my 14 year

old friends.

The temperature warming, perhaps not yet hot

although that would surely happen

as it does when the Spring of

our lives is kissing our lips so unexpectedly.

Time to head out on my bicycle

to meet with the

guys, perhaps baseball or

going up the corner to hang out and

see the girl in my class who

looked at me for a few moments.

Possibilities of all sorts, all colors as

our Spring arrives.

The world warming up so quickly.

April, too little recalled and

so quickly gone as the years wind up for a fast

pitch, with the ball sailing over the plate often

before we’re aware that we need to swing at

it although we usually do, and occasionally

get a base hit if we’re blessed.

A home run for the lucky few.

Sunlight now slanting through my bedroom window

as the dream becomes a lovely memory

that fades away.

I’m blessedly now awake with

November quietly knocking on my front

door.

I Dreamed It Was April by Stuart Terman, from Beyond Words. March 2020. Used by permission of the author.

About the Author

Stuart Terman was an attending ocular surgeon at the Cleveland V.A. Hospital and several Cleveland-area hospitals. His Ophthalmology practice was as an Assistant Clinical Professor at Case Western Reserve University. He is now retired. His medical publications have appeared in medical, surgical, literary, ocular and pediatric journals including Annals of Plastic Surgery; Annals of Ophthalmology; The Journal of Trauma, Injury, Infection, and Critical Care; and Consultant for Pediatricians. His poetry has appeared in The Stardust Review, Tiny Seed Journal, and Northwest Indiana Literary Journal.

Write a Poem

Write a zappai, a three-line poem that (unlike haiku) has to have five syllables in the first line, seven in the second, and five in the third and (unlike haiku) does not have a seasonal reference. It's what most haiku writers don’t approve of.