Mr. Toad's Road

Mr. Toad's Road

Around we go on Mr. Toads' road
Left and right through hairpin turns
Our destination, the place we began
We will arrive a few minutes older
But mentally, I am not quite so sure 

With each turn I see the joy and wonder
The laughter of childhood imagination
Seeing reality through a child's lens 
Has me contemplating the child inside
Crowing like Pan, against adulthood
 
Around we go, like so many before 
I can feel the urge inside to just let go
To be a kid, free to be free of worry 
This is her moment, This is my moment
This is our moment of pure imagination

Soon the world will call and I must go
To continue my march back to the beginning
My final destination is the place we all began
But perhaps, I will take a dream or two with me
To treasure and guide me along the way

To look at the world as a kaleidoscope of color
And not be troubled to try and make sense of it
Even as tender, precious moments fade in time
Against the dulling and constant stroke of time
But as for this very moment I feel free and alive
 
Around, around we go left, right and ever forward
I get to sit beside her this day, but she has the wheel
She is a little girl, well on her way to womanhood
Living a life where I will soon become a spectator
But today, for a moment I wear the crown of a king

She looks over and smiles a loving smile
It is joy, it is happiness, it is safety and love
Her life ahead is a journey of her own making
Choices will come and decisions will follow
Her destination, the place where we all began

 Around we go on Mr. Toads' road
Left and right through hairpin turns
Our destination, the place we began
We will arrive a few minutes older
But mentally, I am not quite so sure
 

Nicholas Campos 2023

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