Dream

(I found this hiding on the web -- something I wrote maybe 30--40 years ago...and I thought, how marvelous! Too good not to share with Soup.) I thought to tell her a bedtime story— A father’s duty A parent’s joy; And then I thought—better to seem, I would teach her How to dream: I had thought to share A travel-line story, A printed journey With a colorful page; And then I thought No greater pack Then that of courage: I would teach her How to dream: Beyond the travel-line of book, There’s a wider text inside Just have a look— You are the author, The fool or the sage Let imagination Breathe life into your page; Give it lungs, ears, Earth, ocean and sky— Give your heart and soul wings, Turn your mind loose, Let it all fly: Close your eyes— Enter the mist: Cross the sleepy sands To whatever dark or bright, All shores are your lands; You are the author, The artist, The captain, The crew, sail into the storm Or upon the calmest blue; Give your cast boots, Buccaneer swords— Make them simple pirates Or jeweled ladies and lords; Sea-serpents, mermaids, A black cat Hoisting a sail— The ships, the sea, The land the sky Color and sounds Your pleasure For your tale; Astronauts Aliens—all tentacles and brains, Yellow brick roads, flying carpets, Strange cities Or talking country lanes— Yours to dream Acceptable lies, All truth first entered Through dreamer’s eyes; If the vision too scary Make of them angels Or fluttery, flitting good fairies; Whether benevolent queen Or bad witch, When it’s your dream Retain or switch— Sadness can be brought Abruptly to an end— Good go on forever, Flowing with you Around every dreamed-bend: Ice-cream never need melt, or run Till all the sweetness And coolness done— Create your songbirds High and free— In your worlds Need never cages be— Within each of us A jungle and clearing Divine—make of yours All wonder As have been mine; Now let’s tuck you in… Bon voyage my child; Never fear your wild….