“i am cherry alive,” the little girl sang,
“each morning i am something new:
i am apple, i am plum, i am just as excited
as the boys who made the hallowe’en bang:
i am tree, i am cat, i am blossom too:
when i like, if i like, i can be someone new,
someone very old, a witch in a zoo:
i can be someone else whenever i think who,
and i want to be everything sometimes too:

but i don’t tell the grown-ups; because it is sad,
and i want them to laugh just like i do
because they grew up and forgot what they knew
and they are sure i will forget it some day too.
they are wrong. they are wrong. when i sang my song, i knew, i knew!
i am red, i am gold, i am green, i am blue,
i will always be me, i will always be new!”

–delmore schwartz (quoted in , by kay redfield jamison)