The Dreaming Tree
I started to write a poem about riding a pig to school, but then the lyrics began to lecture me about not making your friends carry you around when you can use your own feet. So the kid and the pig were going to walk the rest of the way to school holding hands, but then I thought about kids who don’t have ready access to feet. So I will probably tackle those ideas someday, but it wasn’t gonna be today.
Instead, I started to mull over a story where a kid would encounter a new animal every day, starting with the pig (as it is fairly familiar and has a short name), and then having things get more complicated (i.e., less familiar animals with increasingly longer names).
And as I started to go along, the sloth had the temerity to burp in the kid’s face. And then, not to be outdone, the pig shifted from snorts (hence the original rhyme with “quartz”) to farts (where the rhyme was close and pretty enough to leave as it was).
After that happened, each of the other animals wanted to do something that would be teasing (in a friendly way), but the child was just too comfy underneath the dreaming tree to be bothered.
On top of that, my mind kept bopping me with the phrasing that patterned along the lines of “fearsome tiger, cunningly crafted” and so forth. I know that I have come across something like that structure in someone else’s work, but my memory isn’t surrendering the source right now. Might be Wolfe or Kipling.
With the music, I am trying to maintain a consistent feel across the album. No sense in having a set of lullabies that can’t be shuffled.
And yep, some of the lyrics are deliberately hwimsical (i.e., “swide” is not a typo).
Lyrics
On Sunday night,
trippy traipsing by my toes...
was a pig!
Pink and puffy, curly-tailéd,
snuffling sweetly, he whiff-whafféd.
Nestled close with gentle farts
as sunset streaked with rosy quartz.
Of course, that didn't bother me,
so comfy 'neath the dreaming tree.
On Monday night,
slyly sneaking by my spine...
was a fox!
Russet furry, pointy-muzzled,
deep into my back she nuzzled.
Stole some covers with a wink.
Left me sleeping on the brink.
Of course, that didn't bother me,
so comfy 'neath the dreaming tree.
On Tuesday night,
slowly sleuthing by my face...
was a sloth!
Gentle gestures, long claw-fingered
with a gaze that lally-lingered.
Looked me calmly in the eye
and burped a leafy-smelling sigh.
Of course, that didn't bother me,
so comfy 'neath the dreaming tree.
On Wednesday night,
boldly burrowing by my back...
was a badger!
Strong and stocky, stripe-y mask friend,
dug up treasures I had stashed then.
Scattered socks and toys with glee.
Left muddy paw prints on my knee.
Of course, that didn't bother me,
so comfy 'neath the dreaming tree.
On Thursday night,
hippy hopping past my hand...
was a quokka!
Happy-smiling, stub-pawed creature
with a whisker-twitching feature.
Shared my snacks with careful nips
and joy displayed on curvy lips.
Of course, that didn't bother me,
so comfy 'neath the dreaming tree.
On Friday night,
sweetly swinging by my swide...
was a binturong!
Coal-black furry, popcorn-scented
climbed all over me, demented.
Tangled up my dreamtime hair
and dropped old fruit peels here and there.
Of course, that didn't bother me,
so comfy 'neath the dreaming tree.
On Saturday night,
bumbly bumping by my butt...
was an elefino!
Trunk-nosed wonder, blanket-earéd
with a tail that swishy-wheeréd.
Whispered secrets none could hear
yet somehow made my mind flow queer.
Of course, that didn't bother me,
so comfy 'neath the dreaming tree.
Every evening,
drowsy drifting by my tree...
is me
Star-rise gloaming, moon-glow shimmy
for my friends I lay there flimmy.
Knowing they will soon appear
when dreams and sleep bring all loves near.
That wait will never bother me,
so comfy 'neath the dreaming tree.
Sweet dreams...
Here they come...