I am Peter and I am Wendy

Peter Pan Calls To Us

Peter Pan calls to us:

adventure, magic, flying--

as in our dreams we loose ourselves to whim,

the past but fuel to the present

so that we are so in the now

we forget what was and to reach for what will be,

I know and love the Peter in me

who glories as hero in a story,

in the twirl, tragedy, and triumph

life allows us each moment

if we can but grab it,

that Peter who also forgets the other

who dies to him, whether in body or metaphor,

as one moment moves into another,

I also know and love the Wendy in me,

who can live the moment and in the moment still take care,

who can let time last as memory

and give flesh to the future,

as humans we split ourselves into male and female

and we gain power in the insight of one or the other,

how much better if we continue and enlarge

and work to hold each truth within a whole we can know,

I am Peter and I am Wendy,

and James Barrie knows me in his story,

tonight, an ensemble, gifted with insight and skill,

and wisdom in the scripting,

creates a vehicle in which we all can fly,

and in which we also can realize that time passes,

that we should joy in worlds opening for the young,

and that we also should remember the past within us

that still flies off to Neverland,

even while we bear our maturity as well as we can.

by Henry H. Walker

December 22, ’12