Winding through towering Evergreens and strong Oaks
A father, with young son clinging to his back,
walks down an unfamiliar, yet friendly path.
Covered in stone and outlined with cat tails and ferns,
they make their way to the child's kingdom
Where he will rule from a monkey bar throne,
conquer the metallic slides
and travel to distant lands on captured swings,
with his dad as an underdog servant.
But before they can reach his fantasy land,
the child's ear catches something unknown,
a sound that lazily meandered it's way into his ear
but will surely never leave again.
A noise somewhere between the running faucet while brushing his teeth
and his bathwater as it slaps against the side of the tub.
His hands clench tight to his father's shoulders
as his head jerks almost too quickly.
"What is it?"
Just three words role off the wanting tongue,
as a questioning, outstretched hand
points to what is an unbelievable sight in his own eyes.
And as a spark is set in his stare
He sees light dancing on glass ripples,
fallen rays of sun nearly blinding, but paralyzing and hypnotizing
A world of wonder in one glance.
For this moment all doors of possibility are open,
but he can't even begin to put into words all that he's taking in
Something so amazing that it becomes impossible to articulate
Because of this he could only question what he saw
and for the answer he turned to his father,
his mentor and teacher.
Without even a pause to ponder the permanence of what was about to be said
closing the new doors all too abruptly
The father looks back and brands his child's mind,
"It's just a river."
Managing to do something that he swore would never be done,
not by him
He's just stolen the spark and summed up his own son's imagination
Taken away the excitement and glorious happenings around him with a shrug
Because now, and forever more, "It's just a river."
You must let a child experience for themselves
not tell them what something is, but ask what they see
Let that become their own river.
for, it is never just a river, but a new view on the world,
another aspect of life
It can shape who they become and alter reality,
if not molded by others first
So what is it?
Well, I could tell you…
But I'll let you figure it out on your own
What do you see?
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