My Moon to Neverland

The moon is wearing a halo tonight. The moon’s so large, so round, so bright. It has to be my backyard moon, the one that lit the way to Neverland. I swear this moon came from the sky when I was a kid—a big moon, because the sky’s so big. Have you thought how big the sky is? It’s even bigger to a kid. It’s the place where dreams begin.

My arms firmly on my windowsill. My eyes still and staring up at the moon. My heart would lift and then my mind, and I’d be off like the Darling kids to places yet uncharted. Up into the blue black night with stars around like Christmas lights, and nothing cold, no fear of flying with moonlight there to guide me. My moon took me to Neverland, a place of magic, a place where stories always ended right. Adventures happened endlessly, but stopped the second that you wanted.

My Neverland was filled with magic girls and boys like Peter Pan. But there was no Wendy or jealous Tinkerbell to be seen. Everyone was busy taming lions, tightrope walking, and living out daring dreams. We had no time for pouting fairies or too much mothering.

I found my Neverland bigger than the one the story tells of. It wasn’t just for children. It had lots of favored grown-ups. King Arthur had a castle there. He and Merlin cheered brave Queen Guinevere when she rode off with the Knights. Snow White came by with the Dwarfs to retell her life story, and on other nights Einstein came to talk about his theories. On nights I needed action, I took down dragons with Merlin’s magic sword. On quieter nights, Cinderella and the Prince would dance in all their glory.

Everyone I love was there in my Neverland inside all the magic that I ever knew. I could go there any time I looked up at the moon. I had good reason to know the moon could do this magic thing.

My father hung my backyard moon especially for me.

—me strauss Letting me be