JUST A WILD LITTLE LOVE STORY

Our bookstore is filled with stories…from the present to days of yore

Still some of the greatest stories never written walk in through our front door.

If you’ve read any of my poems you know I can be verbose…

I have a tendency to prattle…

But bear with me as this story begins 28 years ago

In a bookstore…in Seattle.

A young couple walked into that bookstore…so their story goes

and she had no idea that night…he was planning to propose.

Once inside the bookstore…they hadn’t gotten very far

when he noticed a book he loved as a child:

Maurice Sendak’s…Where The Wild Things Are.

She said she’d never read the story…and instantly he was shook…

for how could he marry a person who did not love this book?

So there in that old bookstore he made the wild things stir

as he sat down on that old floor and read that book to her.

And he knew by her eyes she loved it too…so that was the moment he chose

to tell her how much he loved her…as he got down on one knee to propose.

He offered her a life of wild things…wild things big and small

He said he wanted to spend his life with someone who would love him best of all.

Fast forward exactly 28 years to the day…when they enter our store…look up…

and what catches their eyes simultaneously…but two Where The Wild Things Are cups.

They show their daughter who rolls her eyes…then heads to the back of the store.

As they purchase the cups they tell me their story…one their daughter’s obviously heard before.

I smiled watching them leave the store…

thinking they’ve come so far…

from the moment their love began

28 years ago

in a bookstore

in Seattle

Where the Wild Things Are.

SO MUCH MAGIC

“I’m not sure how you do it.” He told his daughter

“How you see magic everywhere.”

“But it’s wonderful…I adore it”.

"It’s really very simple Daddy.” She said

“I see magic…because I’m looking for it”.

MAGIC IN THE GRIDDLE

We have in our possession an old and weathered griddle

that’s been making pancakes in our house 

since our children and grandchildren were little

Every Saturday morning at a slow and steady pace

we’d stack pancakes on the table…some with a happy face.

As we got more creative we found a way to play.

We added colors…we made flowers into a beautiful pancake bouquet.

We made pancakes in all shapes and colors and sizes

I believe our Mickey Mouse was the best!

And as we grew in confidence we began taking their requests.

No request was rejected..no matter how big…or little

for we knew despite our lack of artistic talent…

there was magic in this griddle.

The children and grandchildren are all grown now

and yesterday with just a little fanfare

We decided to make pancakes for our dinner

And were delighted…because the magic was still there.

All the magic of all those Saturdays…

All those pancakes made when they were little…

All those moments made more memorable

by the magic of the griddle. 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMERICA

As the United States celebrates another birthday…it’s hard to be delighted

because although it’s true we are one country…we are anything but united.

In fact as one year ends and another begins…at this crossroad…at this junction

it seems the American family we created is a family in dysfunction.

If this is a moment in history we are meant to weather

perhaps we need to harken back to the first time we learned to live and play together.

Perhaps it’s time to remember those long forgotten rules.

The ones we learned in our Kindergartens…and our Elementary schools.

Where we first learned to accept one another…where we first learned to care,

to lend a helping hand, to love each other…where we first learned to share. 

Where we learned to be nice to one another…not to bully or ever hurt anyone 

to say we’re sorry when we needed to…and to have a little fun.

Where we learned to take a nap when we are tired…to take our time…try not to rush

that we do not take things that are not ours…and never forget to flush.

Where we first learned to play fair…to never cause another person shame…

to wash our hands, to wipe our noses and to treat everyone the same.

I know these all seem too simple…as our country teeters on the brink…

but what if the solutions to our problems are less complicated than we think.

What if the answers were in front of us all the time…what if we control our fate…

whether or not we remain divided…or become united states…

At any rate it couldn’t hurt to start…following those old classroom rules

the ones that once united us…

back in our Kindergartens…

and our Elementary schools.

A MASTERPIECE IN THE MAKING

Yesterday I was surprised, I was amazed…I was elated

to have the privilege of watching a masterpiece of art being created.

I sat next to the artist…and again I was in awe

as he put his pencil to his paper…and he began to draw.

And I began to smile…then I began to stare

for never have I seen a pencil move so fast..

with so much grace…

and so much flair.

He told me what he was drawing…was it a fire engine…or a bird

but the artist is just learning my language…and I didn’t understand a word.

His inspiration ended quickly…as inspirations sometimes do…

His masterpiece completed…

in a minute…

maybe two.

And again I was surprised and amazed at his generosity

for without a thought about it…he gave his masterpiece to me.

As he ran out of the room…this thought occurred to me…

When he does become a famous artist I can say…

I knew him when we was three.

HER GREATEST FEAR

With poverty, hunger, hatred and war seemingly around every bend

he asked the wisest person he knows if she feared the world is coming to an end.

She looked at him with a sadness that made him feel a little strange

“I do not fear the world will end.” she said.

“I fear it will continue without change”.

THE BOX

When one gives a gift to a child there’s often a confusing paradox...

as the gift is quickly set aside while the child plays in the box.

For children see with their imagination all the journeys to be amassed

In a box that holds not only a present...but trips to the future...and the past

Children know a box can be anything...according to their mood...

A mansion high upon a hill...a fortress of solitude.

A box can be a spaceship...on a mission to the moon

or a stagecoach drawn by horses....arriving at high noon.

A box can be a cave from a time when dinosaurs roamed the land.

or a castle protected from dragons by knights both brave and grand.

A box can be a schooner battling monsters out at sea...

Anything a child envisions...is what a box can be.

So the next time you give a gift to a child...savor the paradox…

knowing they will find joy in the gift you’re giving…

as well as magic in the box.