I promise
That every time you look up at the sun, it’ll shine a little brighter
That each blade of grass is cheering for you as you walk down the side of an empty road carrying nothing but the wind in the back pocket of your favorite jeans
I promise that trees will tell you more than your best friend
Lightning bugs glow brighter in the dark
And scars are just post-it-notes reminding you to tell that story about the time that you went fishing
And the sky was your preschool watercolor canvas
Your fingers tracing dreams and grazing stars
I promise that no matter what a hug will always take away the pain
Teddy bears will always listen
And a hot cup of coffee will always forgive you for that crooked jigsaw smile that your Daddy loved
A pencil and paper will soak up your heart, though I don’t recommend lined paper because the objective is to stay in the lines
So I promise I’ll always be there to hand you a piece of chalk
But when you’re done, don’t be afraid of the rain
I promise that your heart will always remember, but your mind is often forgetful
And I promise I’ll never let you forget who you are
But I won’t even have to remind you because you’ve already set your alarm for today
And today is when you find yourself, walking on sunshine
I promise I’ll only let you fall if it’s in love
Only let you leave if it’s to travel the world
Only let you drown if it’s in a good book
I promise that the loudest place on earth will be in that graveyard
And when you think you’re done listening
When you just want to cry
You’ll find comfort right there under her tree
Even though she hasn’t hung there in years
And it makes you wonder
Makes you hope
That the noose hugged her tight
Kissed her neck
And whispered “I love you”
So then I guess I’ll have to promise that the hurt will always hurt
The sad will always be sad
But the happy, the happy will always be happy
And no matter how high you raise your chin, sometimes it will snow
But if you just stick out your tongue
And catch it
It’ll taste like love
And fear
Because there’s no love you’ll know that won’t be frightening
But it’ll trump every wildflower that sprouted form the cracks of the sidewalk in front of your childhood home
And it’s blue
Roll the Polaroid camera
Black white flashes of innocent laughter and barefoot adventures
I promise that as you grow, you’ll never get tired of climbing trees
Or catching fireflies in a pickle jar after you’ve drunken the juice with your kid neighbor Molly and gotten sick in the raspberry bushes of the cat lady’s garden
I promise that swing sets will launch you to the moon
The pebbles at the end of your driveway will glitter brighter than diamonds
And love poems will only get your heart halfway there
And I promise, when you’re dying, in that cold hospital bed
That when your mind drifts back to those woods
And that boy
You’ll get the faint smell of pickle juice fish dreams
And blue house moons