I had a bird for just a day.
It lighted upon my finger.
It flitted up and lit back down
And chirped and sang
And delighted me like a dream
That comes unbidden
And stays as long as it can
In the mystic light of deep sleep.
For one can never keep a bird,
And dreams will never tarry long,
Nor bring surprise or joy
If you try and capture them,
Or turn them in the ways
That you would have them go.

But bright the eye and true the smile
Of the gentle learners
Who allow the multicolored wings of truth
To come their way,
Who let the dreams unfold uninterrupted,
And laugh like unfettered children
At the free ideas that churn and drop
Into their minds
Like sweet confections that melt in the wet mouths of happy eaters.
These are the memories and loves and moments and precepts
One never forgets.

-jenn