Lucy was seven and wore a head of blue berets
city-born into this world with no knowledge and no regrets
had a piece of yellow chalk with which she drew upon the street
the many faces of the various locals that she would meet
There was joshua, age ten, bully of the block
who always took her milk money at the morning bus stop
there was mrs. crabtree and her poodle, she always gave a wave and holler
on her weekly trip down to the bingo parlor
(and she drew) men and women, kids and sunsets, clouds
(and she drew) skyscrapers, food stands, cities, towns
always said hello to passers by they asked her why she passed the time
attaching line to concrete but she would only smile
Now all the other children living in or near her building
ran around like tyrants soaking up the open fire hydrants
they would say, andquot;hey little lucy, wanna come jump double dutch?andquot;
lucy would pause, look, grin and say andquot;iand'm busy, thank you much.andquot;
Well, well, one year passed and believe it or not
she covered every last inch of the entire sidewalk, and she stopped
andquot;lucy, after all this, youand're just giving in today?andquot;
she said, andquot;iand'm not giving in, iand'm finished,andquot; and walked away
one two three, thatand's the speed of the seed
a b c, thatand's the speed of the need
you can dream a little dream or you can live a little dream
iand'd rather live it, cause dreamers always chase but never get it
Lucy was thirty-seven, an introverted somebody
the basement apartment in the same building she grew up in
she traded in her blue berets for long locks held up with a clip
traded in her yellow chalk for charcoal sticks
(and she drew) little bobby who would come to sweep the floor
(and she drew) the mailman delivered every day at four
lucy had very little contact with the folks outside her cubicle day
but found it suitable and she liked it that way
(she had a man now) rico, similar, hermit
they would only see each other once or twice a week on purpose
they appreciated space and rico was an artist too
so theyand'd connect on saturdays to share the pictures that they drew
(look) now every month or so sheand'd get a knock up on the front door
just one of the neighbors, acting nice, thought she was a strange girl really
said, andquot;hey lucy, wanna join me for some lunch?andquot;
lucy would smile and said andquot;iand'm busy, thank you much.andquot;
The neighborand'd make a weird face the second the door would shut
then run and tell her friends how truly crazy lucy was
and lucy knew what people thought but didnand't care
cause while they spread their rumors through the streets sheand'd made another masterpiece
One two three, thatand's the speed of the seed
a b c, thatand's the speed of the need
you can dream a little dream or you can live a little dream
iand'd rather live it, cause dreamers always chase but never get it
Lucy was eighty-seven, upon her death bed
at the senior home where she had previously checked in
traded in the locks and clip for a headrest
traded in the charcoal sticks for arthritis, it had to happen
(and she drew no more) just sat and watched the dawn
had a television in the room that sheand'd never turned on
lucy pinned up a lifeand's worth of pictures on the wall
and sat and smiled but looked each one over just to laugh at it all
Now rico he had passed about five years back
so the visiting hours pulled in a big flock of nothing
sheand'd never spoken once about the spanning of her life
until the day she leaned forward, grinned, and pulled the nurse aside
And she said, andquot;look, iand've never had a dream in my life
because a dream is what you wanna do but still havenand't pursued
i knew what i wanted and did it til it was done
so i been the dream that i wanted to be since day one.andquot;
Well, the nurse jumped back
she never heard lucy even talk, specially words like that
she walked over to the door and pulled it closed behind
and lucy blew a kiss to each one of her pictures and she died
One two three, thatand's the speed of the seed
a b c, thatand's the speed of the need
you can dream a little dream or you can live a little dream
iand'd rather live it, cause dreamers always chase but never get it
