sleep, little beansprout don't be scared the night is simply the true sky bared sleep, little dillseed don't be afraid the moon is the sunlight ricocheted sleep, little button don't make a fuss we make up the gods so they can make us sleep, little nubbin don't you stir this sky smiled down on Atlantis and Ur
Copyright © 2007 by Albert Goldbarth. Reprinted from The Kitchen Sink: New and Selected Poems, 1972-2007 with the permission of Graywolf Press, Saint Paul, Minnesota.
Sleep, sleep, beauty bright, Dreaming in the joys of night; Sleep, sleep; in thy sleep Little sorrows sit and weep. Sweet babe, in thy face Soft desires I can trace, Secret joys and secret smiles, Little pretty infant wiles. As thy softest limbs I feel Smiles as of the morning steal O'er thy cheek, and o'er thy breast Where thy little heart doth rest. O the cunning wiles that creep In thy little heart asleep! When thy little heart doth wake, Then the dreadful night shall break.
This poem is in the public domain.