Swing for the stars

As I walked through the woods a long time ago,

I came upon an old broken swing

And I wondered and wondered

Who had sat on that old broken swing.



Well, I asked and I asked

Everyone that I saw

If they knew that swing in the woods.

Until at long last

An old woman replied,

"Yes, I know the swing that you mean.



"When I was a child

I would swing there for hours

And reach for the stars in the sky.

I never thought

Any star was too far

For my little child hands to reach.

Then when I grew older,

I dropped childish play

Yet still went and visited my swing.

I sat and dreamed girlhood's dreams

As I looked at the stars in the sky,

But I no longer reached for the stars.

And I grew still older,

And rarely went back

To the spot that I used to love well.

But when I would go,

I would try to forget all my cares

Caused by this troublesome world.

Burdened down was I,

And soon forgot

How to reach for the stars in the sky.

And I grew still older,

And now I realize

That when I was young I was right.

There never are any stars too high

To reach for, provided you know how.

So reach for the stars while you can

Before you're like me, old and gray.

Reach for the stars as long as you can

Before they all fade away."



As I listened to her tell her story,

I thought of my old childhood home

Where I used to reach for the stars

On clear summer nights long ago.



And now I, too, am old and gray,

And can no longer swing for the stars.

But you, dear listener, can still reach,

So reach for as long as you can,

So that when you are old and can no longer swing,

You will still have the stars in your hand.