By Aseel Barghuthi,
Amman Baccalaureate School,
Amman, Jordan.

Late one afternoon, I was letting off some steam

When a little green man came and stole away my dream.

He ran forth holding on to it and claimed it as his own.

I wondered what his motive was, and yet it was unknown.

He sat on my treasured dream, not letting me go near.

And he would not relent, not for tantrums, screams, nor tears.

I begged and I begged, for it was all that I had.

But Mr. Green Man had no sympathy for the sad.

He claimed that it was his, that he had seen it first.

It seemed he would keep it, until I finally burst.

"Oh please Mr. Green Man return to me my dream,

"My love for this life is sewn onto its very seams.

"But if you must, I implore you, don't lose it for me,

"For its value is great, as soon you shall see."

I began to tell him the story of my "crammed-with-basketball" days.

I told him of my experiences and my lay-up missing phase.

I spoke of daily practices, of games and tourneys past.

I explained how I loved the game, and why the love would last.

He glanced at me with puzzlement, shook his head and tapped his feet

The green man disappeared, leaving me ever-so incomplete.

My dreams were by his side, he smugly carried them away

And still I have not seen them, until this very day...

I heard a piece of news, though, that startled me today.

For there is a little green man playing in the WNBA!

(With apologies to the Irish, the green man symbolizes people who attempt to de-motivate those with powerful and meaningful dreams.)

QUOTATION CORNER:

"All men who have achieved great things have been great dreamers."
- Orison Swett Marden

"The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams."
- Eleanor Roosevelt

"Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die, life is a broken winged bird that cannot fly."
- Langston Hughes

"Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined."
- Henry David Thoreau

"Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal."
- Henry Ford

"A will finds a way."
- Orison Swett Marden

"The important thing to recognize is that it takes a team, and the team ought to get credit for the wins and the losses. Successes have many fathers, failures have none."
- Philip Caldwell

"Somewhere underneath all the hoping, loving, striving, fretting, and doubting there will always be a little dreaming."
- Aseel Barghuthi

#68, Aseel

Aseel Barghuthi is in her senior year at Amman Baccalaureate School, in the country of Jordan, where she plays both point guard and shooting guard on the school team. She has also lived in the United States (Athens, Georgia) and England. To contact Aseel with any comments or suggestions, e-mail her at aseel@index.com.jo

Illustration by Nawaf Barakat.