Professions and Dreams

As I kid, I thought of becoming a priest.

I fancied the black frock and Roman

collars they wore each day. Besides, I

thought it a safe bet being on the side

of saints rather than a sinners. I had given

up my childhood dreams of leading the life

as Roy Rogers with Dale Evans riding by my

side. I got to figuring that the age difference

and the distance between Hollywood and

the Midwest where I lived would prevent

such a thing from happening. After my

service in the military, I considered a career

in law enforcement, but decided handing

out citations for traffic violations and pack-

ing a lethal weapon was not my style. By

nature, I am a peace-loving, Hippie wanna

be anyway. Needless to say, I wound up try-

ing many different professions in order to

earn a decent living and support a family.

Be all that as it may, I find myself retired

today and living on Social Security, having

turned seventy two just the other day. And

now in my spare time which consumes 99.9%

of each and every day, I write poetry. I have

finally discovered who I really was in the

first place, and who I was always meant to

be. Simply put, at this point in time, I am

in life exactly where I ought to be. Screw the

frock and badge. Occasionally, though, I still

have fond fantasies about Dale Evans and me.

(What red-blooded American male could resist

falling head over heels with a cowgirl who rode

a buckskin quarter horse named Buttermilk?)

I do understand that I am somewhat resistant

in letting this ridiculous notion of mine go. And

you, dear reader, may call me a lot of things,

but crazy I ain’t. I do realize that Dale Evans and

Buttermilk passed away quite some time ago.

These days in reality, however, I find there’s a lot

of dust which has accumulated over the years

in this closet of mine.

Chris Hanch 4-6-19