The Box Where the Dreams are Kept

THE BOX WHERE THE DREAMS ARE KEPT

I dreamt of a land by the sapphire sea
whence the swallows came.
In that land there dwelt a girl
Ursala was her name.

She was as fair as Queen Anne's lace.
The oceans were in her eyes.
Alabaster was her face,
kissed by azure skies.

She said, "Have you broken the golden bowl,
and heard the clocks that chime,
like silver ponies with long pink manes
galloping through time?

"Never the days turn into years,
and never the dreamers slept,
as dreamers sleep in the beautiful land
where the box with the dreams are kept.

"Can the box be sold for silver and gold?
No, an infinite price has been set."
"Then I'll open the box when I'm old and cold,
but I won't open it yet."

Then I saw the retreating tide,
I saw that the sun had set.
All this occurred in that beautiful land
where the box with the dreams are kept.

Seldom do the ponies weep,
and seldom have they cried.
But ponies wept on that sad day,
occasioned by my pride.

Away, away ye beautiful dreams,
but isn't it curious how,
that it should seem to dreamers who dream
that I might have forgotten you now?

Never a day that I didn't kiss
the picture that you left.
It was one of the treasures
in the box where the dreams are kept.

So I broke the locks and opened the box.
It was dazzling to my eyes.
The dreams flew out and filled the seas,
and then they filled the skies.

She said, "You must cast a golden net
and fish the sapphire sea,
till you behold the dreams of gold
and find the dreams that be.

"You must fly away like a bird of prey
for the dreams that take to the skies.
You must catch them in a silver net
like you would a butterfly."

So I sailed away at the break of day
to fish the sapphire sea.
I will return to the beautiful land,
I and the dreams that be.

by Helene Louise