• by Bryan Boettger , September 25, 2013

Please don't be fooled by my childlike heart,

And mistake this for lack of strategy and smarts

 

I smile with true joy at the little things in life

As part of a search for goodness and light.

 

For these are things to which people are drawn

The beautiful, unexpected and easily gone.

 

So don't be fooled by my childlike heart

I laugh easily, not to play the comical part

 

I laugh at the difficult for the joy that it brings

Because out of difficulty, unique ideas do spring.

 

It's not the common that gets our work noticed

It's a unique angle, found thing or observation missed.

 

So don't be fooled by my childlike heart

It's my armor, weapon, impenetrable rampart.

 

In the search for creativity, you are ever beaten down

By you, me, him, her, they and every pronoun

 

But we pick ourselves up with enthusiasm and will

Knowing after we climb, the fun is sliding down the hill.

 

So don't be fooled by my childlike heart

Because if art imitates life, then life is art

 

Behind the sly grin and twinkle in my eye

Is a brain taking in more than my face might belie.

 

I consume life and every experience like a small child

In the search for truths without anger or guile

 

Please don't be fooled by my childlike heart

Please see the lack of immaturity that sets me apart

 

Childlike wonder is something to which we must hold

Coupled with deep thought, it's an art most bold.

 

To connect, to reach, to affect those we touch

It takes wonder, not a use of fear as a crutch.

 

So please don't be fooled by my childlike heart.