The Secret Dream Poem by Douglas Gibson

The secret dream, the young hope curled
In this dark winter of the world
cannot endure, cannot remain
Forever still. What is unknown
Beneath the whip of grief and pain,
Dumb but unbroken, and alone
Like the small seed within the Earth,
Patient, enduring, with the flame
Of life within, that comes to birth
Despite the bitterness of frost.
So is the heart's bright seed; the same
Glad future world that is not lost
So long as man still dreams and sees,
Beyond our little world, the power
That springs from present agonies,
Breaking into glorious flower.
The secret dream of mankind curled
In this dark winter of the world.