Copyright © 2000 Benjamin A. Shelton
This poem is part of a collection of very old poems I wrote when I was fairly young. As a result, the vocabulary and general tone of the poem may not be up to par with many of my newer works.

There is a place, you know,
Where the sea is green and the sky is bright.
It is a place of great hospitality,
And the people smile night and day.
In our world and in our time,
We find such ideas impossible.
Yet, we too wish for better days
Where warmth exists all around.

There is a place, you know,
Where neighbors trust neighbors.
And the people trust leaders.
Where the birds sing for the sake of singing,
And people smile for the sake of smiling.
In our world and in our time,
We see the opposite.
For people here buy love and live hate,
And breathe a whole manner of warm and cold.

There is a place, you know,
Where it is asked that clouds bring rain,
For the rain brings life.
Where the clouds are not seen as evil,
And the clouds are not seen as dark.
But here, we curse the skies when they open,
And curse the rain that falls.
Yet when the rains fall no more,
We curse again.

There is a place, you know,
Where the tides of change are yearned for,
And innovation is praised beyond all else.
It is a place of great minds,
And a place where everyone is heard.
We wish, in our world at least,
That our voices were heard.
And when they are not heard,
We curse.

There is a place, you know,
Where honor is beyond all things,
And where the nobles are respected.
We ask our leaders for honor,
But instead, we are given filth.
Yet, when we cry for honor,
Our leaders tout it.
And when they forget,
We Curse.

There is a place, you know,
Where all love all.
There is a place where festivals,
Celebration, and praise continues forever.
There is a place of great honor,
Where duty is considered before profit.

There is a place, you know,
That is unlike anything we have seen.
But where, my friend, you ask is this place?
Not here, I’m afraid… not here.
It would take a great journey,
And still, we would not find it.

There is a place, you know,
That is unlike anything we have seen.
And where you ask?
Not here.
Not here.