Childhood

Dedicated to Charlotta Bernadotte, who restores my faith in daydreams every day.

There are many disappointments life to be had,

Sometimes it can be hard to find good in the bad.

Some sneak up on you like a thief in the night,

Giving anyone the most traumatic of frights.

But it's worse when disappointment's inevitable,

Just sitting there waiting is truly terrible.

Of all of us humans, children have it the worst,

To watch your own ignorance slip away is a curse.

You don't even notice the logic setting in,

The reality sinking beneath your skin.

But it's too late, for already deep in your heart,

The mind of the child is falling apart.

You don't even know it, and it's easy to say,

These suspicions don't exist, and go on with your play.

And what play it is! what wondrous fun,

Because the stuff of daydreams are second to none.

You daydream of a grey wizard knocking on your door,

Bringing tidings of an adventure in store.

You peer at the strangers passing by in the crowd,

Wondering if they're half-bloods, hiding beneath the Mist's shroud.

You stare up at the stars and you're on Tatooine,

The strongest with the Force anyone's ever seen.

When you just have to take a peek in every wardrobe supplied,

Just in case there's a magical land tucked inside.

But the absolute worst instance I say,

Is waking up that one morning on your eleventh birthday,

Racing to the door hoping against hope to find,

A certain letter of a more special kind.

One from a certain magical school,

You'll be whisked off to Britain and sit on that stool,

The hat is placed on your head falling down past your nose,

As you quiver with tension from your head to your toes.

You're drowning in a sea of self-doubting thoughts,

With trembling hands and a stomach in knots.

This simple task you can surely surmount!

(And you know the Hat takes your choice into account).

You run through the options quickly in your head,

There are four tables, four Houses, that's what you read.

Gryffindor, the chivalrous, crowned in red and gold,

Home of the brave, daring, reckless, and bold.

Ravenclaw, where the intelligent dwell,

If you've a thirst for knowledge that no one can quell.

Slytherin, House of the shrewd, cunning, and sly,

Their reserves of ambition never run dry.

And Hufflepuff, where they are generous and just,

Patient and caring, those ones you can trust.

Lions or Eagles, oh where should you go?!

Well, whether a Snake or a Badger, it'll be an adventure. You know.

The castle and grounds will become your home,

And you'll remember this time wherever you roam.

A time of wand waving and broom-riding galore!

You'll discover yourself, and oh so much more.

All seven years, making strong life-long friends,

And memories that will last you until your life ends.

So when you get to that mailbox, or the slot in the door,

And there's no letter there, it hurts all the way to your core.

You sit down and mourn, maybe even weep,

Now you can visit only when asleep.

You knew all along that it couldn't be true,

But "maybe" you thought. Just maybe for you…

You watch as your fantasies all disappear,

For now you know that there's no magic here.

Reality cuts you hard like knife,

Fiction is fiction. This is real life.

But soon, you realize the truth in front of your eyes!

The magic is there, it wasn't just lies!

It's in the world all around you, just not as it seems,

It lives in your heart, your thoughts, and your dreams,

It lives in the movies, the poems and plays,

It lives to shock, wonder, uplift, and amaze.

Magic is in the world and it's inside yourself,

But most of all, it's in those seven books on the shelf.