A Children's Story

The Giving Tree

'Just read anything', his daddy says,
'he only wants a story.'
I wonder if he's right,
am I trying to teach my son
to be kind before he understands
how to take others’ hurts
inside and feel them too?

I worry about the best way
to prepare him for this world –
“don’t blink, use your will to shape;
draw only what you want to see;
don’t judge when you only know
your own history filtered
through your viewpoint’s sieve.”

His dad hands me his own favourite,
I shake my head, I know
you have to suit the story to the soul.

But should I share stories that teach
how terrible the world can be?
His father wants him to believe
Charlie gets the chocolate factory;
he's brave enough
to tame his own monsters.

I still don’t have the answers
and guess I never will.
We might have already consumed
his future.
I whisper the last words
not knowing what story he heard.