CHILDLIKE EMPRESS

The joy upon her face
and the twinkle in her eyes
is well worth the effort of Christmas—

And I hate to think of the day
when my Childlike Empress finds out
that Santa only lives in Spirit . . . .

It will mean she’s growing up!
But, alas, I do not have the power
to bestow the mantle of immortality
upon the fat man in the red suit.

I am only the child’s mortal father
who must also bear her pain with her 
when this sad side of reality presents itself—

Would that I could magically cloak 
all of life’s pretty bubbles 
and keep them from ever bursting!

And that I could ever keep her safe—
locked up
behind supernatural, impenetrable walls 
surrounding that well-known, 
storybook Ivory Tower. . . 
keeping her forever young and  happy 
and pure as the driven snow . . .

always singing/always dancing,

always living/always loving—in Fantasia!

Kenneth Rea Berry

Aka: Socrates