Bedtime Rhymes

I read to you one night
because you were crying
and that’s the only way I knew
to put you to sleep.

The next night you returned -
and the next -
until every night was an
endless cascade of poetry
and nighttime stories.

I was the man in the mirror
and the rabbit who pushed you
into Wonderland.
One night I was Rumple Stiltskin -
a night I will never forget.

The cover had just closed
on Mary Poppins,
when you kissed me.
The rush was electric.

You kissed me as if
your heart was slowly
ceasing to beat -
and I was Frankenstein’s
lightning bolt which could
bring you back to life.

With cherry lips you stole
the magnetic field
that crackled across my skin
the static that kept me alive.

Gone with the wind was the man
who read you bedtime stories
and cradled your head softly
in his arms
the boy who carried mountains
and walked among stars.
Vanished were the Cheese Girl
and the boy who stole you cars.

Your timid smile took the place
of my Adventure,
your ink and happiness stained
“I love you”s crumbling the walls
of my ellitic solitude.

In me you saw not a storyteller
but a boy who spun galaxies
like the fates’ spin thread;
and you loved me,
and wanted a world for ourselves.

You wanted Adventure, and justice
and love - I cannot fault you for that
which you did because I filled your soul
with wonder.

You cannot have my words or worlds
because these wonders are naturally mine
but if you stay behind
and love a story teller
you’ll find your own - in time.