Summary

The speaker next describes his dream like a “rabid beast” (91) that bit and infected him before running away; now he has to chase it. He notes that, now, he can smell and hear it, sometimes even see it. He continues to trail his dream, looking “under heavy stones, / behind massive trees / deep in dark caves” (94). Though he may never find his beast again, he recognizes that the “treasures” (95) he has discovered while searching have in fact “created the hunter / and the human / that I am” (95).

Addressing his listener, the speaker notes that a dream is “the thing that makes / you special, / but not the thing that makes / you great” (99). It is the “courage in trying” and the “passion in living” (99) that make a person great. He asks the reader to accept this letter as “just a few words / of encouragement” (100) that they are free...