When You Dream

With life just begun, my sleeping new son

has eyes that roll back in his head

They flutter and dart, he slows down his heart

and pictures a world past his bed

It's hard to believe

As I watch you breathe

Your mind drifts and weaves

When you dream,

what do you dream about?

When you dream,

what do you dream about?

Do you dream about

music or mathematics

or planets too far for the eye?

Do you dream about

Jesus or quantum mechanics

or angels who sing lullabies?

His fontanelle pulses with lives that he's lived

With memories he'll learn to ignore

And when it is closed, he already knows

he's forgotten all he knew before

But when sleep sets in

history begins

But the future will win

When you dream,

what do you dream about?

When you dream,

what do you dream about?

Are they colour or black and white,

Yiddish or English

or languages not yet conceived?

Are they silent or boisterous?

Do you hear noises just

loud enough to be perceived?

Do you hear Del Shannon's "Runaway" playing

on transistor radio waves?

With so little experience,

your mind not yet cognizant

Are you wise beyond your few days?

When you dream,

what do you dream about?

When you dream,

what do you dream about?