One for Josh

“Fairy Tales are more than true; not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us dragons can be beaten." G.K. Chesterton


in a ziploc bag
coins rattle and paper rustles

titles listed on an index card
will you order these for me?

once upon a time,
his world had so few words

he spoke rarely
and almost never on the phone

parents far away, trying to cure cancer
with carrot juice and infared light

and in school, words escaped him
synapses misfiring, betraying his intellect

but inside his head, a reader waited
hungering for words

first fed by reading aloud
words washing over his brain

then audiobooks he devoured
swallowed in great gulps

slowly, his world righted
his mother came home

a very kind teacher
gently guided his rebellious brain

the letters stopped their terrible dance
righted themselves on the page

the reader in him ROARED its delight
and he began to greedily consume

first short books, then quickly chapters
stories fueling his craving

his fingers sought pages to turn
his heart yearned for fantastic adventure

he plowed through the long pages
questing for knowledge and stories

he gathers his dollar bills
and his quarters and nickels and dimes

he hands them to me, the one with the credit card
and asks me to enable his budding habit

and the reader in me sees in his eyes
a kindred spirit filled with

love for hobbits and dragons
for a boy wizard in glasses

and pride and affection overwhelm me
as I type his order into Amazon