One of the little five year old twins I nanny, relayed to me that he desperately wanted to dream of Free Willy the other night. "I tried to dream of him, but it didn't work. I didn't dream of anything! I'll try again tonight."

I asked his brother if he dreamed at all the previous night. He replied, "No. I'm just not a dreamer guy all the time." I laughed and tried to encourage him, "Well, maybe you'll become one as you grow older?" He looked at me so seriously, with wise little eyes and said, "No, when I grow up, I won't. 'Cause remember Peter Pan? When you grow up, you can't go to Neverland anymore and all that."

I just looked at him laughed. I attempted to explain the concepts of dreaming and sleep, but even after my explanation, still to his mind his reasoning made the most sense, so I dropped the subject with a smile.

Of a classmate:

You walk in with a smile
and leave with one and
when your smile says
'hello" it wakes
up mine and my teeth
feel ashamed and
groggily stand at attention.
I wonder, if you had to
dissect a breaking heart
or a decaying soul
if you would smiles still-
probably
in a mournful way,
you would.
I pray the light that issues
from your lips will
never be doused
by unressurectable
sadness or fear,
for your smile heals me
and artlessly teaches
me to capture each
second as it gasps by
with these saluting teeth,
marching,
crusading for laughter
and joy.

5/6/10