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What Might Have Been
by Robert L. Harrison
July 2000

An old man sat on a grassy hill with his grandson who was ten,
He dreamed a dream that we all have dreamt, of things that might have been.
"What if I’d taken the other road?" He asked silently,
"What if I’d worked a few more years? Then where would I be?"

"Perhaps I should have gone to school for another year or so,
And worked my way up through the ranks till I was CEO."
"My marriage to my loving wife could have been stalled for years,
Until I had sufficient funds to spare her all those tears."

And while he mused his grandson gazed at the white-cloud sky,
He dreamed of the years ahead and what he’d be by and by.
"I’d like to be an astronaut and explore the galaxies,
Or a sailor bold who roams the world and sails the Seven Seas."

Then he looked around and gazed into his Grandpa’s tired old eyes,
And spoke of his life’s ambition to the old man’s great surprise.
"Grandpa," he said, "I know now what it is I want to do,
When I grow up I want to be a submariner just like you."

The old man’s eyes filled up with tears, but his heart was filled with pride,
He cleared his throat and rubbed his chin ere he to himself replied.
"While I dreamed what might have been but I knew could never be,
My Grandson tells me I did Okay and that’s good enough for me."