“You make me feel the way Christmas did when I was a kid, I’d close my eyes look to the skies and magic became real.”

I spy a life on fire and taken for granted by me.

Needing leave clumsy me – spilling mustard on my sleeve as cover-up for all the talk of love.

You and your sea glass green kaleidoscope eyes have always been my kryptonite.

We’re outsiders- you and I- we could almost be brilliant.

I hope your lemonade tastes like young summers and old times.

Things will change – that’s the best and worst of it.

The world knew it couldn’t break you unless you listened to it talking shit thought and broke yourself.

I dream of you in constellations.

And there in the mirror staring into your shadows eyes red nosed and mascara freckled you’ll recognize yourself again.

Maybe we could begin entwined – not whole – but one again.

Your forever is always worth waiting for.

I wish you the wildest of dreams.

Thank you for believing in me the way I used to.

At least now the stars are in good company.

You look like smell like taste like home.

Even your broken smiles are contagious.

Listen to the mustn’ts, child. Listen to the don’ts. Listen to the shouldn’t, the impossibles, the won’ts. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me, Anything can happen, child. Anything can be.

It’s important to give a better country to your children, but it is more important to give better children to your country.

One of the problems with being relatively wealthy if you are a parent is that you cannot provide your children with necessity.

If a child has not been taught to behave properly by the age of four, it will forever be difficult for him or her to make friends.

The state must declare the child to be the most precious treasure of the people. As long as the government is perceived as working for the benefit of the children, the people will happily endure almost any curtailment of liberty and almost any deprivation.

Question for parents: do you want to make your children safe, or strong?

I liked myths. They weren’t adult stories and they weren’t children’s stories. They were better than that. They just were.

It’s important to give a better country to your children, but it is more important to give better children to your country.