To A Butterfly

You are so young,
You believe you are invincible.
Nothing could ever stop you.
You dance because in your mind,
There is nothing that isn't music.
You dream of colors that don't yet exist.
Every sound,
Every smell,
Every touch,
Is new and amazing.
The world is waiting for you to uncover it,
And no rock will remain unturned.
And yet,
I want to hold you back.
You want to chase the butterflys across the yard,
And out into the world,
And I just want to hold on to you.
Your innocnce is not permanent.
I want to tell you that this is a world,
Not like you imagine.
It's a cold, hard place.
And it steals childhood;
The one promise that is never kept.
I want to tell you that it isn't safe.
That there is danger
Waiting around every corner.
I want to protect you from everything that could hurt you,
And you just want to fly.
So, the best I can do is learn to fly too.
I can fall back into childhoods wonder.
I can be the one person that will find magic in everything with you.
And rediscover how fascinating it is
To watch birds land on the telephone wires.
Or how captivating the rain is when it falls.
Because I cannot protect you forever.
And God knows that I shouldn't even try.
But I can hold on to the innocence that childhood brings,
And maybe,
Together,
We can stay young.
And you can keep that inborn sence of wonder
That life is so eager to take away from you.