The Dream Poem by Ian Payne Payne

I dreamed a dream and in this dream I saw
Myself on the sands of time and beside me the Lord
The Lord smiled on me as a father would a son
And offered me a time to live in, a time besides this one
He took me back to nineteen hundred and nine
To a celebration on the banks of the Rhine
Life seemed perfect until the sun set red
And I thought to the world wars a few years ahead
I then asked the Lord for a time when rulers did not conspire
And he took me to the time of the Roman Empire
With Pax Romana the law of the land
From mountain top to beach of sand
All seemed at peace, if peace there could be
But then I saw the rich and their empty life of luxury
The Lord then took me to other times gone by
I looked at each with a smile on my lips and a tear in my eye
For while each originally seemed good to me
Each had a fault, which I could not help but see

I dreamed a dream and in this dream I saw
Myself on the sands of space and beside me the Lord
The Lord smiled on me as a father would a son
And offered me a place to live in, a place besides this one
He took me north where the wind was chill
Where the great white bears roamed at free will
There star crystals danced over the great white plain
And there was not much snow and no rain
But despite the beauty which was there
An incredible cold hung in the air
He then took me away to a far off seashore
Where my feet made tracks never made there before
There the sun was warm and shone all day
And the sand glistened in a beautiful way
But loneliness on me soon began to wear
When I saw that there were no people there
The Lord took me to other places fair
I looked at each with a smile in my eye and a teardrop there
For while each originally seemed good to me
Each had a fault, which I could not help but see

I dreamed a dream and in this dream I saw
Myself on the sands of choice and beside me the Lord
The Lord smiled on me and only me
He then asked me what my choice would be
My thoughts wandered to what I had seen
From empire of Rome to beach which gleamed
I pondered the good and the bad too
From the ancient I had seen to the new
When I looked at the Lord he still smiled at me
I then knew what my answer would be
I thanked him for all that he had done
But told Him I found no time and place better than this one