I read a poem today, by the Norwegian poet Rolf Jacobsen (1907-1994) :

All people are children when they sleep.
there’s no war in them then.half-open flowers
They open their hands and breathe
in that quiet rhythm heaven has given them.
They pucker their lips like small children
and open their hands halfway,
soldiers and statesmen, servants and masters.
The stars stand guard
and a haze veils the sky,
a few hours when no one will do anybody harm.
If only we could speak to one another then
when our hearts are half-open flowers.
Words like golden bees
would drift in.
– God, teach me the language of sleep.

If only we could speak to each other then, when our hearts are like half-open flowers. What a difference that could make. What would you be saying differently do you think?