They can dance.

It always amazes me how much you know
how is it that you have so much knowledge
even whilst wearing your little boy disguise
I love the way you glance over the table at me
reminding me of when we played twinkle eye
a game that I guess almost everyone knows
'though they probably call it all sorts of things.

So now we chat about hurricanes and tornadoes
and how you can actually spell the names of five
yes count them, five different types of dinosaur
some of whom I can't even pronounce properly
and I sit here in awe as you reel off the spellings
glowing with pride under my astonished gaze
you really truly do amaze me wonderful boy.

When we talk, who is the adult between us
I in my 47th year or you just starting your 7th
staggered as I am at how much you know
equally surprised when we fall through the gaps
with so little warning of where the edges are
especially given your tendency to leave me here
taking flight into the sky of your own imagination.

If I were to list the many things that the young
do much better than we so-called grown-ups
it would have to include this taking of flight
an ability to extrapolate from the almost known
into the unknown with such unscientific abandon
that it makes a kind of mockery on the one hand
whilst offering a new kind of wisdom on the other.

Is it only the young that dream of the impossible
or is it that on awakening we adults dispel
discount, disrespect our now latent abilities
to take flight even if only in our subconscious
and so it's not for us to sit at the breakfast table
describing riotous rides on pink dancing giraffes
when everyone know that giraffes can't dance.

Except in a story book that we both once read
and dashing upstairs, I on my slightly longer legs
make it first by a whisker to the big bookcase
but with your keener eyes you spot it and crow
the book that we'd read so many months ago
but whose funny story still lives on in your head
making night-time visits of such contagious frivolity.
.
.
.
There really is a book called "Giraffes Can't Dance".
It is one of my all time faves ... yes, and Ollies' too. xx

15 comments:

  1. I remember when my sons entered 1st grade, and then were all of a sudden reading! It amazed me that their little minds could absorb so much and retain it! I think I have always had Alzheimers. Probably always will. One day I just won't find my way home. That will be that.

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  2. precious moments between mother and son... makes me feel all warm inside.

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  3. Ah Shadow ... sadly I am not a mother. But I am a devoted auntie blessed with 4 nephews and 5 neices. My sis lives nearby so I am very much involved in the lives of 2 of my smallest nephews. Lucky for me.

    Annie, you and me both. I'd already forgotten 2 types of dinosaur by the time Ollie had finished spelling. Was I ever that smart??? No, I don't think I was even close to it.

    Joker, huge hugs to you my lovely friend. Hope you're not shivering in the snow! xx

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  4. Jos I love this post. I love you love and your ability to love.

    You are amazing dear heart. Just amazing and such a blessing in my life and your sweet Ollies too.

    Love Renee xoxo

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  5. 'so little warning of where the edges are'

    my favorite line, jos.

    so sometimes we fall off the edges and instead of crashing we fly off into the imagination of a 7 year old little boy who knows all he needs to know.

    how wonderful for you. how children teach us!

    love love
    kj

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  6. There is something there, isn't there, that is so wise and insightful? We do lose it. Our vision becomes narrower. I have to admit, I'm in the habit of willing it in the opposite direction but only when I'm able to shed my grown-up roles. I find that it is too often in our responsibilities that we get wound up too tight.

    You and he make a beautiful marriage of spirits.
    xo
    erin

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  7. I'm so glad your back. Totally missing you.

    xoox

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  8. what a lovely post. found you at renees. my name is jocelyn, everyone calls me joss. is your jos short for anything? i am in london, where are you?

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  9. i cannot believe this, two jocelyns,i never meet people with this name! howdy, gonna link you to my blog and come visit you often...as you really are only a stone's throw away. hugs.

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  10. Darling I am so glad you are back. Thank you for the most beautiful and heartfelt prayer.

    I love you.

    Renee xoxo

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  11. This blog looks good. Congratulations.
    Daniel D. Peaceman, Editor of Contemporary Horizon Magazine
    E-mail: drgdaniel@yahoo.com

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  12. Ah Jos how wonderfully you capture the child. My darling 7 year old astounds me every day. I love his world and wish I could walk with him where ever he goes in his imagination. My favorite time is night when we can both travel together on the same journey within his chosen book. reading Toms Midnight Garden at the moment and he is every bit as enchanted as I was in my first reading of it. Through his books I can be 7 again.

    You are a star
    Julie
    x

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  13. I can totally relate. Your writing is beautiful.

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