My Own Dreaming Tree Just Needed Some Water

When did you give up on you dreams, allowed them to become simply dreams? Fading into inexistence as the sun's rays began to project through the windows of your bedroom. Waking each day to routine and monotony, following the path that so many other robots have walked before you, trudging through life with heavy hearts, ignorant of the truest desires of their souls. Those dreams...just a distant afterthought from another typical morning.

When did you first fail to achieve the goals you set before you? Stopping to catch your breath as the others you once ran with in tandum sped past you in pursuit of their our goals. The first time you found yourself satisfied with the results of your shortcomings, turned your back on the prize, and settled for second place. Not because you wanted to, but because you believed you didn't have another choice.

When did loss first hunt you down and expose you to it's deepest sorrow? Forcing you to your knees while you attempted to rationalize it's appearance in your life and the need for it's existence. Seeping into your heart and educating you about the darkest lesson life is obligated to teach us all. Loss that seems to create a void that no other can ever hope to fill, leaving an emptiness inside you for the rest of your days.

When did you stop caring? Failing to shed tears for someone or something that was well deserving of your sympathy. Leaving another to fend for themselves while you pondered over your own needs with little remorse from your cold heart, using their hardship to help you prevent your own.

When did the world turn it's back on you? The moment you felt loneliness for the very first time, didn't have a shoulder to cry on, a hand to hold, a voice of assurance in you life. The world grew darker and the days longer as you found out that your world can so drastically shrink around you in a matter of seconds, leaving you to fend on your own.

When did the quiet inside your mind disappear? Life filling with complexities you never fathomed before. No matter how hard you tried to catch up with your life, it always seemed one step ahead, and the peace of mind you so desparetly wanted, was just out of your reach.

When was the first time you felt jealousy? Wishing for the life of another, while all the while slowly sacrificing your own individuality. Doubting your own self worth, so that you could view life through a different perspective. Penalizing yourself because your life did not meet your specifications, and rather then work to change it, you wished life was an easier map to read.

When did the rage of hate first rise up into you? The world turning crimson as your blood boiled inside your soul and unleashed the darkest emotions the soul possesses. Wishing destruction on another, pondering revenge, and when the intial pain receeds, coming to terms with the cataclymic changes that reshaped your own personal universe.

When was the last time you took the time to watch the sunrise over the horizon, and allowed your soul to recharge, remembering that everything else can be overcome, because you truly are invincible as long as you live. For me, that day was today, and those dreams of mine, will never be just dreams.

THE DREAMING TREE

Standing here
The old man said to me,
"Long before these crowded streets
Here stood my dreaming tree."
Below it he would sit
For hours at a time
Now progress takes away
What forever took to find
And now he's falling hard
He feels the falling dark
How he longs to be
Beneath his dreaming tree

Conquered fear to climb
A moment froze in time
When the girl who first he kissed
Promised him she'd be his
Remembered mother's words
There beneath the tree
"No matter what the world
You'll always be my baby."
"Mommy come quick,
The dreaming tree has died."
The air is growing thick
A fear he cannot hide
The dreaming tree has died

Oh, have you no pity?
This thing I do
I do not deny it
All through this smile
As crooked as danger
I do not deny
I know in my mind
I would leave you now
If I had the strength to
I would leave you up
To your own devices
Will you not talk?
Can you take pity?
I don't ask much
But won't you speak, please?

From the start
She knew she had it made
Easy up 'til then
For sure she'd make the grade
Adorers came in hordes
To lay down in her wake
Gave it all she had
But treasures slowly fade
Now she's falling hard
Feels the fall of dark
How did this fall apart?
She drinks to fill it up
A smile of sweetest flowers
Wilted so and soured
Black tears stain the cheeks
That once were so admired
She thinks when she was small
There on her father's knee
How he had promised her,
"You'll always be my baby."
"Daddy come quick,
The dreaming tree has died
I can't find my way home
There is no place to hide
The dreaming tree has died."

Oh, if I had the strength to
I would leave you up
To your own devices
Will you not talk?
Can you take pity?
I don't ask much
But won't you speak, please?

Take me back, take me back, take me back...

Save me please.

-Dave Matthews