Close your eyes

You can do this

The older you get

the more you need to remember

Of course you can’t keep them closed

forever

If you’re going to continue reading this

from a dusty page in your book

mouthing the words as you hum along

However

You can keep your lids locked

and imagine all you want

If someone else is reading this to you

All you have to do is close your eyes

and it all comes flooding back

How it was

to be read to as a child

and imagine along the way

nearly falling asleep

yet never more awake

ankles brushing on the low carpet

gathered in a large circle

fiddling with shoelaces

scratching knees

Occasionally staring out the nearby window

Fidgety during the scary parts

Completely still during the exciting ones

anticipating the next steps

captivated

Perhaps you’ve had the same experience that I’ve had

The administration pulling the ole Switcharoo at the last minute

and sending in a substitute

to supplement story time

Perhaps they were even left good instructions

as to where the class was at in the text

and they were even able to pick up

right where you had left off

Perhaps you were missing the voice

which had first helped you find your own

Perhaps you appreciated the new voice

because it helped you think of the whole story in a brand new light

Perhaps both

Searches were met with findings

and more questions

Longings were met with forms of comfort

you never knew you always needed

and new desires

you never knew you always had

Looking around the room

to witness others reactions

Frozen frustration with the cliffhangers

Collective jubilation releasing in triumphs

For now the stories we’re read

aren’t from our favorite teachers

sitting at the centers of our circles

rather reporters seated behind desks

sharing stories which make us want

to close our eyes for different reasons

to labor under the illusion

they never existed in the first place

which takes a far stronger imagination

than even our most creative children

seem to be capable of

Our souls will not accept these substitutes

So we are left desperately folding into ourselves

begging the universe for new stories

for different ones

those that empower us to hold fast

those that encourage us to ride on

those that remind us how to play

and help us to patiently wait for the finale

which we all believe will be worth the delay

hoping in those we stand by

actively listening and feeling deeply

to see the delight in each other’s faces

when all of our innermost questions

are finally answered

and it all makes sense in the end.