The Dreamer Does Not Die

Hope has a dream.
Bright.
Shining.
Alive.
Even today if you look closely
you can see tomorrow hiding inside her now.
But between the dream
and its fulfillment…
there is a storm.
A storm raging without permission.
A lion roaring as if it owns the land.
Flames rising, threatening to consume what God planted.

And I ask shaking, breathless
Why me?
Why must I bleed because I dared to dream?
Why must purpose come with pain?
I am not fighting anyone.
I am not racing anybody.
I’m not blocking another person’s bloom.
I just want peace.
I just want everyone to be fine.

So why won’t life let me be?
I’m tired.
Today feels heavy
so heavy that tomorrow feels unsure.
It feels like the future is slipping away from me,
like maybe…
I won’t even feature in it.
And that thought?
That one hurts the most.
Then sickness showed up.
Uninvited.
Unfair.
Cruel.

But hear this
there is one thing I know.
The dreamer does not die
until the dream is fulfilled.
Joseph did not die in the pit.
He did not die in the prison.
He did not die in betrayal.

So I will not die here.
I refuse to camp in today.
I refuse to let tears steal my hope.
I refuse to let fear edit my destiny.
I will live today
with faith for tomorrow.
I will smile today
not because everything is okay,
but because there is a crown ahead.
I am not a failure.
I am a dreamer.
God is with me.
And these troubles?
They are empty threats.
Because I have an anchor
sure and steadfast.

No storm can swallow me.
No fire can erase me.
No lion can devour what God has marked.
I will rise.
Not by strength
but by promise.
The dream lives.
And so do I.

By Faith Ogunode

Educator