The Dreamland Voyage
           By Annette Wheat

Now is the time for little tots
To enter dreamland sweet.
The day is done; you've had your fun,
And now's the time to sleep.

You've played so hard all through the day,
With friends you love so dear,
And now you're tired so off to bed,
For sleepy time is here.

So say your prayers my little one,
With hands clasped, oh so tight,
Then hop in bed while mama goes
To dim your bedroom light.

And now we're through with bed time chores,
Our tasks have all been done,
Good night, my sweet, and thank you for
The bed time kiss I've won.

But wait! Before your eyelids close,
And I'll tell you a tale
Of how, when I was very small,
My dreamland ship set sail.

For I was once small too, you see,
(that's hard now to conceive)
And off I'd go at twilight time,
To the land of make believe.

It was the Sandman who took me there,
He was my friend so dear.
We'd sail away together
To lands both far and near.

I had to wait until he'd used
Up almost all his sand,
Getting others off to sleep,
All across the land.

I always waited patiently
For him to come to me,
And when he did, we'd hop aboard
Our ship that went to sea.

We never used the ocean
(There was no ocean near),
So up we'd sail into the sky,
With neither care nor fear.

Oh, the wonderful times we had!
My Sandman friend and I,
Aboard our ship where we could watch
The moon and stars go by.

Sometimes we went to China,
Wherever our fancies flew,
For wherever our fancies took us,
Our ship would go there too.

I'll never forget cold Iceland,
Or the mountains of Peru,
And the enchantment of Hawaii
Where the waters look so blue.

We often went to India,
Where everything looks strange.
We even went to places
Where you can't pronounce the names.

The Sandman was a perfect guide,
He knew the world so well,
He always explained the things we'd seen,
As back to earth we fell.

When safely back at home I was,
I'd turn to wave good by,
And watch the ship go sailing off,
Into the clear night sky.

But look at you! You're fast asleep,
You've not heard half I've spoken.
Ah well, perhaps you've met my friend,
I'll ask you when you've awoken.

I hope, if you too meet the Sandman
And on a journey go,
You'll ask if he remembers me,
His friend of long ago.

            poem by Annette Wheat
                       "Fairest" by Bill Wheat
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