There's a watercourse on the way to paradise
that's unlike most other worldly streams.
It glints with the sheen of a million nuggets,
and it's named The River of Golden Dreams.
A mellow fellow is floating down the river
on a rudderless raft bloated with air.
He soon winds up in currents so vicious
he doesn't seem to have a hope or a prayer.
As he gets sucked into that boiling eddy,
the bubbling water begins to enter his lungs.
He's a hair's breadth away from drowning
when at long last his savior comes ...
in the form of a sleek black panther
lithely patrolling the riverside.
The cat thrusts his paw into the whirlpool,
scooping up the man before he dies.
From then on in, the floater keeps sailing
along the gold-flecked stream of life.
He's acutely aware, though, a dream without focus
is like a weekend warrior without a knife.