I finally found this poem I wrote years ago to my young son; he couldn't have been more than 3 years old at the time of my writing it. He's now almost a man (well, he's turning 18 soon ;) and I couldn't be more proud of the person he has become.
With Love from
Mother to Son
Adorned with paper crown, the king takes seat
atop a childhood throne of make-believe.
His castle keep of draping bleached white sheets
loosely cloaks our scattered kitchen chairs.
From safe inside his fortress walls, the king
faces no danger of growing up too fast.
He does not wait for the day when time’s windstorm
will make dust of the ocher and crimson hues
painted on his kingdom by the setting sun,
for he happily drifts in smells of doughy bliss
baking in the oven, moistening his memories
like dew drenched earth after dusk’s goodnight kiss.
I play and reminisce in the king’s heartfelt eyes,
remembering those once-white sheets, the safety
underneath the thin veil their shadows cast,
the dreams that linger there somewhere between
who he thinks he is and who he can be.
Today those far off dreams materialize
in the untold depth I find in his lively eyes.
A prince among men, a king of the world,
a nobody from nowhere, in this I have no stake
for I imagine all he may become
with the unconditional love of mother to son.