"No." The answer solidly squashed a request that would later affect any future dreams.
The flame was snuffed at that point.
Poet Langston Hughes captured the essence of crushed dreams:
A Dream Deferred
What happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore--
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over--
like a syrupy sweet?
Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.
Or does it explode?
Lord, help me to begin again, with the passion of a child, free from all the doubt that's gripped me and held me fast, the word "no" acting as a breeze to snuff out the fire inside. Use that wind to refresh me, revive me, and feed the flame that You alone placed there.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6p_UPlfM71k&list=FLIbPavKmd8kTaNU0RoxNmcg
I Can Begin Again Lyrics
Alone again in a crowded room
Cornered by the questions in my mind
It's so hard to understand
How the life that I had planned
Stole my joy and left me far behind
Though all I have is lost it seems
In the shadow of a dream that used to be
I can look beyond the skies
Deep into the Father's eyes
And see that there is hope for one like me
I can begin again
With the passion of a child
My heart has caught a vision
Of a life that's still worthwhile
I can reach out again
Far beyond what I have done
Like a dreamer who's awakened
To a life that's yet to come
For new beginnings are not just for the young
I face the dawn of each brand new day
Free from all the doubt that gripped my past
For I've found in trusting Him
That everyday life starts again
As I look toward the things of life that last
I can begin again
With the passion of a child
My heart has caught a vision
Of a life that's still worthwhile
I can reach out again
Far beyond what I have done
Like a dreamer who's awakened
To a life that's yet to come
For new beginnings are not just for the young
New beginnings are not just for the young
New beginnings are not just for the young
