PostPoems Be Artistic. Be Creative. Be Inspired!

She loved when he read her fairy tales…she’d sit upon his knees

and be amazed how so many fairy tales took place among the trees.

Fairy tales…alive with woes and heartaches…

with battles, and wishes granted,

with damsels in distress…

where every forest seemed enchanted.

And when they walked into the woods…she always felt it there

perhaps inspired by the fairy tales…something magic in the air.

She’d point them out when she spotted them

“Dad! Look another tree…

just like the ones in the fairy tales you always read to me”.

“Look how tall they are”, she smiled…”how they reach up to the sky

I wonder how many adventures they’ve seen…with their fairy tale eyes”.

For her birthday that year…she was given the best gift she would ever see

when she delicately unwrapped…a tray of tiny trees.

“It’s to start your own enchanted forest”, Dad said as he got down on one knee,

"where you can make up your very own stories among your very own fairy tale trees”.

Later…In her back yard as she looked down at the tray of trees just planted

“Dad”, she asked, "how long do you think before this forest becomes enchanted”?

Dad put his arm around his daughter and took her hand in his….

“Just like you on the day you were born”, he smiled,

“your forest…already is”.

“What is that Mommy?” the young girl asked pointing and stopping to stare…

“That’s a Fairy Circle.” Mom whispered. “The fairies live under there.”

“It occurs when a shooting star streaks in front of the the moon after an evening storm.

It’s the only time this doorway between our two worlds is formed.”

“Most of the time fairies live underground…

but when the circle is created they seize their chance.

to enter into our world and around this circle…they dance.”

“Legend has it fairies love to dance…love to feel the beat

and when they tire from all that dancing they use the mushrooms as their seats.”

“If you’re lucky enough to see them dance,” mom continued…

then you will be forever blessed

with a life of good health and joy…of contentment and happiness.”

“Do you think we can see the fairies dance?” the young girl asked as she touched a mushroom stem.

“I’m not sure,” mom smiled…”for that is entirely up to them.”

“We’ll come back tonight while the moon is still full but let me warn you before we begin

we can’t see the fairies dancing…unless they invite us in.”

That night they walked together hand in hand 

behind a tree they hid….

and around the circle of mushrooms… 

that’s just what the fairies did?

It’s a game that began when he was young.

Apparently it was something he just had to know

He and his Dad were watching the clouds when he asked,

“Daddy, where do all these clouds go?”

“As they’ve move across the sky…how cool would it be knowing

Where they all end up…where they all are going.”

He remembers his dad sitting up…this innocent question making him proud.

“That depends”, he said, “it’s different…for each and every cloud.”

“You see that shark up there?” he said pointing…

”The one that’s moving in slow motion..

I imagine he’s swimming in the breeze…on his way out to the ocean.”

“That angel is heading off to heaven…see how his wings are flowing…

and see that devil over there…I think we know where he is going.”

“And now it’s your turn.” His dad said, “Set your imagination free!

Take a look at all these clouds…and tell me what you see.”

“OK”, he smiled,  “I see a dragon!”…then his eyes got big and bright

“He’s flying pretty fast…and look! Behind him is a knight.”

“See that big cloud over there?  It looks just like a ship to me.

I imagine it has a crew of pirates…and they’re heading out to sea.”

And from that simple beginning a life-long game was born

finding elephants and horses…castles…and unicorns.

Watching clouds float across the sky…moving fast or moving slow

finding shapes and forms and faces…and imagining where they go.

Today his memory drifts to that day so many years ago…

When he overhears his son ask his father…

“Grandpa….where do all these clouds go?”

She told these wild stories when we were little…about dragons and dinosaurs…

She said she was a princess who loved to run along the shore..

She said sometimes she flew with angels….She said angels like to hold your hands.

She said she visited castles…on the tops of mountains…in far away lands.

And I would listen to her stories when we played together every day

and when I asked her how she did it…I ‘magin it…she’d say.

It’s really very simple…If I want to float up in the air

or fly across the ocean…I ‘magin that I’m there.

Every time I ‘magin…I’m in for a big surprise

that’s why every time I ‘magin…I never close my eyes

I want to see what kind of bird I am…on that nest in the top of the tree

I want to see what I am wearing…as a pirate on the sea.

I never know when I ‘magin…what adventures will await

I want to see the color of my horse as I storm the castle gate…

I want to see as I sit upon my throne if my cushion is bright red

I want to count the number of diamonds in the crown upon on my head.

And she taught me how to ‘magin…as I joined her on the seas

as we stormed castles together…as we floated on the breeze….

as I helped her count her diamonds as she sat upon her throne

as we ‘magined neither one of us would ever be alone…

And though it’s been many years since I have seen her…

there are days I ‘magin we are still pirates on the sea…

or storming castles together….

and I ‘magin…

so does she.

We thought his rocking horse would only be ridden in the house….

but it was imagination that we lacked….

for he road to castles,

over rivers, 

through the trees…

then to the stars and back.