If you want to know,
you must walk tip-toe
so your feet just whisper in the grass--
you must carry them careful
and very proud,
for their stems bleed drops of milk--
but Lizzie and Clara shout in glee:
Pee-a-bed, pee-a-bed--
dandelions!
You look in the eyes of grown-up people
to see if they feel
the way you feel...
but they hide inside of themselves,
and so you do not find out.
Grown-up people say:
The stars are bright to-night,
but they do not say
what you are thinking about stars--
not even mama says what you are thinking about stars.
This makes you feel very lonely.

: :

It's strange about stars....
You have to be still when they look at you.
They push your song inside of you with their song.
Their long silvery rays
sink into you and do not hurt.
It is good to feel them resting on you
like great white birds...
and their shining whiteness
doesn't burn like the sun--
it washes all over you
and makes you feel cleaner'n water.

: :

My doll Janie has no waist
and her body is like a tub with feet on it.
Sometimes I beat her
but I always kiss her afterwards.
When I have kissed all the paint off her body
I shall tie a ribbon about it
so she shan't look shabby.
But it must be blue--
it mustn't be pink--
pink shows the dirt on her face
that won't wash off.

: :

I beat Janie
and beat her...
but still she smiled...
so I scratched her between the eyes with a pin.
Now she doesn't love me anymore...
she scowls... and scowls...
though I've begged her to forgive me
and poured sugar in the hole at the back of her head.

: :

Mama says Janie is a fairy doll
and she has forgiven me--
that she's gone to the market
to buy me some sweets.
--Now she's at the door
and a little bag tied to her neck--
I run to Janie
and kiss her all over....
Ah... she is still frowning.
I let the sweets drop on the floor--
mama
has told you a lie.

: :

Chinaman
singing in street:
gleen ledd-ish-es, gleen ledd-ish-es--
hot sun
shining on your face--
it must be a new day.
But why aren't you happy
if it's a new day?
Because something has happened...
something sad and terrible....
Now I remember... it's Janie.
Yesterday
I took Janie out
and tied my handkerchief over her face
and put sand in it
and threw her into the ditch