The happy dream

The child kicks, screams, shouts. The mother is upset. To the child, the rage is now real.

The child kicks, screams, shouts. The mother knows the child is just tired, and remains peaceful. The rage passes, leaving no psychological marks. The child forgets. The mother forgets. Nothing has happened.

'After all, the sky flashes, the great sea yearns, we ourselves flash and yearn ...' (Berryman)

'Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.' (Oliver)

What is the world? Perception. Is the perception of good (the happy dream) any more real than the perception of evil (the unhappy dream)? No. Both are illusions. But the perception of good is a true reflection of the happiness that lies beyond perception: the sun, the pebbles, the wild geese: home.