The Boy with the Torso-Size Heart

There once was a boy with feathers for hair

And a heart as big as his torso

He'd noticed his friends had big feelings too

But wondered if his may be more so

When playing outside on the yellowest days

A loud truck may rumble on by

And wouldn't you know it, that big heart of his

Would push feelings right out of his eyes

At night when the shadows would form on the walls

And fear would steal all of his rest

His heart would pound feelings right into his ears

And they'd jump up and down on his chest

Sometimes when the fun had to come to an end

His face would turn red with new plans

The feelings would run down the length of his arms

And clench when they got to his hands

He felt happy feelings as big as the others

From tickles and hide-and-go-seek

To jokes and races, to stories and songs

That made feelings glow from his cheeks

And when those he loved would have their hard days

He'd feel he'd been over-equipped

To feel all their feelings as deeply as they

Which would quiver right out of his lip

Beautiful things would just stick in his brain

And not leave him for eight-two hours

The fur of a dog, a fluffy white cloud

His mama, a djembe, a flower

He wondered, "Why me? Why this big, giant heart

In a world that's so heavy and kind

Where all of the feelings that are under the sun

Feel as if they were meant to be mine?"

But little did he know, one day he would gather

What leaked from his eyes and his hands

All feelings that fell from his cheeks and his chest

He'd pour into a red watering can

And he'd walk the whole world with that torso-size heart

Just looking for dry places to heal

Pouring out that red can full of big tenderness

He'd remind the earth that it could feel

All the feelings we'd learned to conceal

All the feelings that make us so real

You were made to remind us to feel

For Bridger Oaks Lee, the boy who reminds me.