Shhh, shhh,
the children are asleep,
the faerie-wand of slumber
has consigned them to the deep;
Down, down,
and so they gently fall,
as golden light turns emerald,
a green scrim covers all;
There, there,
below them, all around,
a coral archipelago;
pink lace, white sand abound;
Oh, oh,
upon the green sea-grass,
a palace - towers, arches, keep,
made all of pale blue glass;
Soft, soft,
they land on royal park,
a place where royal architects
have left their royal mark;
See, see,
an angelfish glide by,
all elegance, all curious,
she wonders whence and why;
How, how,
have these two found their way,
descending from the realm above
to find this place to play?
Come, come,
and see the drowsy pair,
who've dropped into our quiet world,
an all new otherwhere;
Well, well,
invited here or no,
let's make the two feel welcomed,
with a fathoms-deep Hello;
All, all,
the wonders here to see,
will pass before their youthful gaze
with help from you and me;
Swim, swim,
it's back and forth all day,
all shapes and sizes, as they see,
in underwater play;
Here, here,
a seahorse at your side,
he's there for you to look upon,
but not for you to ride;
Jet, jet,
some have that extra speed,
with feelers, too, some eight, some ten,
a night time travel need;
Crawl, crawl,
through sand, and seaweed too,
it takes a while to get somewhere,
that's all that some can do;
Watch, watch,
the eel there now in view,
he wends his way in waving grass,
a curving coming-through;
Float, float,
some do ascend those heights,
to drift on in that world up there
of other-worldly sights;
Clouds, clouds,
we never see glide by,
we see not clouds when we look up,
but ripples there on high;
Boom, boom,
the rumble and the roar,
the tide the wave the surf the spray
the thunder from the shore;
Hmm, hmm,
the birds dive down for food,
they grab a fish and swim back up,
to lunch at altitude.
Now, now,
you've seen so much, you know,
it's time to rest your drowsy eyes
before it's time to go;
Wait, wait,
let's not replay the theme,
if you should fall asleep again -
a dream within a dream!
Look, look,
the world you know back there,
your homeland in this universe,
and life lived in the air;
Wake, wake,
to morning's argent sky,
and you will rise to wonder,
as we wish you our good-bye;
Then, then,
you'll have been here before,
perhaps one day you will return
from yon dream-distant shore.
The Faerie Dream · A Thousand Words