Childhood Beliefs Revisited Poem by Jim Yerman

It's funny how when I was a child…the tales my mind would weave.
The things I thought were true…the stories I believed.

How many things I heard that ended up dancing in my head.
For instance…I believed my blanket kept me protected…
from the monsters beneath my bed.

I believed if I ate a watermelon seed..
it would grow inside me and blow up like a balloon…
I believed a toad could give me warts…and there was a man living in the moon.

I believed if I closed my eyes,
my wishes rode on dandelion seeds I blew into the air.
I believed, if my cartoons were correct, there was quicksand everywhere.

But as I grew older the things I believed as a child had a tendency to change…
or through knowledge, experience and wisdom…at least…to rearrange.

Today I have a blend of child and adult thoughts dancing in my head…
which is why I now know there are no monsters lurking beneath my bed.

Why I have no trouble picking up a toad.
Why I know there's no man living in the moon.
And why I still won't swallow a watermelon seed…
(I'm still uncertain about that balloon) .

It's why when I walk…I'm confident I won't find quicksand everywhere
and why when I see a dandelion I'll pick it up…
close my eyes…and send wishes into the air.

I guess, for me, the key to getting older…Is to learn and change and grow…
while…and this comes as a relief
never letting go of some of my childhood beliefs.