Reading To Children
Suspend all disbelief
Cast off your cap of cynicism and cloak of doubt
Clear the mist before your eyes
Listen to laughter on the air
Learn these lessons anew
Such sights never existed before this moment
Never to come this way again
They slip like sand from cupped hands
Up-turned faces with eyes so wide
Eager to trust the story you are about to tell
And follow where you lead
Don’t let them slip
A Few modest words in my own behalf.
This story is for you to tell
To give it life and breath
Free to express
Gesticulate with hands and arms
Laugh. weep let surprise light up your face
Or let tears runnel your cheeks
Embrace the absurd
Give the story life
A Few modest words in my own behalf.
I am. in this instant. what I always wished to be
“A Story Teller”
A spinner of yarns and teller of tales
Both tall and small broad and narrow
That will overwhelm walls of indifference
My trajectory was set
I am the one seated at the fire with magic
On my tongue. at the tip of my fingers
Baton raised about to guide the adventure
Into the heart and soul of fantasy or fact
If only I can persuade them to believe
As I believe. for a moment so brief.
I can immerse myself in the fantasy
Must immerse myself if I am to convince them
Of this story beyond everyday belief
From “Once upon a time” to “The end”
My task is to engage, sweep them into the story
And somehow make them see what I see
And make clear the lesson that adult reason
Sees with such clarity.
A Few modest words in my own behalf.
The minstrel, the balladeer the itinerant wizard
Knows this magic lies at the heart
Of their craft and art.
And if you cannot speak to children
With convincing certainty and absolute honesty
And get them to believe
Then your audience, young or old,
Either innocent or wise with years
Will drift away beyond your reach,
Beyond your telling of the story.
Beyond the web you spin
Beyond the reach of magic.
A Few modest words in my own behalf.
Today I read to children.