CASTLES IN THE AIR (I.P.)

I lay on the sand
As I watch my girl and boy
And fill my weary head
With thoughts of things long dead –
Of longed-for, hopeful joy
Things I cannot understand..

As I build my castles in the air
I hear my children play;
And think of their handsome Dad
And how life became so sad
The day he walked away.
But now I see him there!

Those castles in the sand!
It was not my girl or boy
That built them with such care.
My children are not there.
I am alone; no joy
No man, no things I’d planned.

By the water’s edge I stand
Hold up my face to sweet fresh air;
Salt water’s flowing over me
And as I gasp I seem to see
Those castles in the air
Vanish with the castles in the sand.