His life of adventure…

It never mattered what was really there
His young eyes were full of schemes
He’d see giant balloons in multi-stripes
It was the stuff of his boyhood dreams.

On an isle in the sea, a castle he saw
With turrets and towers and knights
Yet rockets flew high to faraway worlds
And sailing ships and magical sights.

They said he had his head in the clouds
He’d never amount to too much
But he went on to write many stories
Letting others sense that same touch.

He wrote such adventure stories
Full of colour and amazing good fun
With heroes and heroines that we now know
They were written for everyone.

And on days when your youngster looks over a wall
You may think you can see just like they
But not with their imagination
As we grow up that’s drifting away.

Encourage each child to imagine
Curiosity is their greatest friend
For when children start having such good fun
It begins such a wonderful trend.

They’ll make up stories of impossible lands
Where incredible monsters roam
But where heroes are forged from friendship
And everyone makes it back home.

Then one day they’ll climb up over that wall
To live their adventure as they see
And you as a parent will have to let go
To let them be whatever they’ll be.

A small tribute to Hans Christian Andersen

[Shortly before his death, Andersen had consulted a composer about the music for his funeral, saying: “Most of the people who will walk after me will be children, so make the beat keep time with little steps.”]