I discovered myself astride an old pony.
Others were burning incense by a stream.
“Ah! These are children playing at ceremony!”
Thus I silently explained to myself the dream.
That they recognized me was apparent.
I knew their smiles, although they were stopped with braces.
“Look, everybody!” one exclaimed. “It’s the baron!”
Could it be the players’ youthful faces?
How happy they were to include me in their game.
We continued to play through the long afternoon.
And to think I’d never known them by name!
We snacked on marshmallows, tossed around a balloon,
argued about the heavenly and the hellish
and gathered to watch the stars embellish
the extravagant hyperbole of the moon.
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[Next: The Sage Reasons with Himself]