Here’s a story filled with sadness and joy
Of a time, long ago, when I was a boy.
There once was a world unfit for a child
Nothing was beautiful, nobody smiled.
Everything was colorless, the houses, the cars
Not a single thing shined, not even the stars.
Sorrow and fear was the usual thing
In a place where even a bird couldn’t sing.
But things get better, as you already know
It all finds a spark and eventually glows,
Let me show you how our world came to be:
It won’t take very long, so please, follow me…



 

It all started with a flip of a switch
By a young boy known as Bartleby Twitch.
Why, might you ask, did he have such a name?
Well sometimes, my child, a name comes with fame.
When you are as famous, as Twitch came to be
You’ll be named something too, just wait and you’ll see!



Twitch used to be known as Bartleby Frown.
That was his name in his colorless town,
But Bart never frowned, so his name was ignored,
As Bartleby Smile would have suited him more.
For every day his face showed a smile
And Bartleby knew how to smile with style.
But his family, the Frowns, never smiled like Bart;
They lived up to their name, they acted the part.
They knew Bart was different, it was easy to tell
So they gave him a new name that was simple to spell.

 

You see, Bart had a quark, unique to just him,
He had a small twitch, in one of his limbs.
Every few moments his left hand would twitch,
One might call it a fault or just a small glitch.
But whatever the problem, his hand or his bone,
By Bartleby Twitch he’d from now on be known.



How, might you ask, could this boy be so merry?
In a world so bleak and awfully scary?
Well, Twitch was different, quite unlike you and me,
While everyone suffered, he was well as could be.
Twitch got his energy from reading books
While everyone else gave him piteous looks.
They’d say, “Twitch, you’re a fool, reading all day!”
“You will go blind if you keep on that way!”
“Those books are useless, what good could they do?
“They’re as old as the dirt, they’ll never help you!”

But little did they know, young Twitch had a dream,
He’d turn on the sun; he’d enlighten its beam.
He’d know where to go, his books showed the way,
They showed him a switch that would brighten our day.
For he read a story of a world long ago,
A world of color and a sun’s mighty glow.
A story of a switch that could turn on the sun
A switch that would certainly trigger some fun!



 

So was it just a flipped switch that showed us the way?
A flipped switch is all it took to brighten our day?
Yes, it started with a switch, as I’ve already said,
But that’s not all, there’s much more ahead!
Before Twitch came around, there wasn’t a sun
This also meant, of course, that no one had fun.
Because with no sun, no one could play
As the sun gives us energy every day!

Without our bright sun, how would anything glow?
And without its energy, how would anything grow?
The moon was still there, but its shine wasn’t bright
And unlike the sun, the moon hogged all its light.
The moon wanted people only to see
The beauty of itself magnificently…



 

To get to the switch was a challenge itself
And Bartleby Twitch had to go by himself…
Because he had energy that no one else had
And no one believed him, they thought he was mad.
He climbed tall mountains and swam across creeks
He traveled for days– no, he traveled for weeks!
He traveled in darkness for no sun lit his way,
An improbable journey with no time to delay!
And was Twitch ever scared? Yes, I’m sure that he was,
But he kept right on going, because that’s what Twitch does.
Because although he seemed like a regular kid,
When it came to do or don’t, young Twitch always did.
He could never say no, he could never back down
For Bartleby Twitch was the bravest in town!



Along his brave path past rivers and creeks,
Up and down treacherous mountainous peaks,
Against terrible weather and the highest of stakes
Twitch ran into monsters of all sorts of makes.
He battled wild lions and tigers and dingoes
And sometimes he’d run into sharp teethed flamingoes.
And one awful time, when dark turned more dark
He ran into the scariest two headed shark,
With twice as much teeth and twice as much fight
He nearly was eaten in two separate bites!

 

 

After many hard miles through the dark covered land
Twitch fell to his knees; he could no longer stand.
He took a quick rest, then he realized fast,
That he finally made it to that valley at last!
He arrived in the valley of the un-seeable sun
Then he knew at this point, his journey was done.
For this was the place his stories showed clear
He knew right away, the switch was near.
And low and behold, young Twitch was so right
He’d finally found that beautiful sight.
He discovered the switch in a wide open spot
A switch that was labeled with “1 Million Watt.”



 

Twitch hit the switch and light shot up to space
It triggered the biggest most radiant face!
It lit up the sun for the world of today
It allowed us to live, it allowed us to play.
For the sun doesn’t care that we look at its shine
It would rather glow over your house and mine.
It would much rather shower the world with light
And boy was it ever a beautiful sight!



But that was not all, our world still wasn’t done
There’s a lot more to life than just a bright sun.
Twitch now had special control of the sky
Which made him a very significant guy.
And lucky for him, with the switch there was more
He pressed on a button, it opened a drawer.
Out popped a remote labeled “Just what you need!”
Our world needed color and Twitch knew he’d succeed!
There were buttons and levers to push and to pull
And the upper left corner read, “Battery Full.”

 

 

Young Twitch had to decide the colors he’d use
The yellows, the reds, the dark and light blues,
From green to orange to purple and pink
This was a lot for young Twitch to think…
But after some button mashing and waving
Young Twitch had a wonderful colorful paving!
He’d created a rainbow and its colors poured down
And covered each mountain and valley and town!



 

But Twitch wasn’t done, there was still something wrong:
Those birds couldn’t sing even one single song.
He didn’t know what to do, but he had the right tool
The remote control screen read ‘Wave Me, You Fool!’
With one little wave, a flash shot through the air
Songbirds started singing from everywhere.
Soon the wide valley was covered in love
That the remote set off from the sky up above.

With a smile on his face and a fist pump to the sun
Twitch knew he succeeded in triggering fun!
He then had to get back to his now glorious town
For the only thing left was turning frowns upside down.
And he said, “That’s the simplest thing of them all”
As he pushed the big button labeled “Homeward Recall.”
With a flash and a zap he was back in his home
Under a brilliant, majestic, colorful dome.



 

But something was wrong, yes, something was strange
No one could be seen, as if nothing had changed
No one was playing, had they all gone inside?
Were they afraid?  Did they all run and hide?
I suppose in a world that was dark for so long
People would run from what shouldn’t belong.

The sun and the sky were not something they knew
Playing and smiling was not something they do.
They didn’t know of this brightness that shown
And what could be scarier than the unknown?
Twitch had to tell them there was no need for fright
He’d show them that daytime was better than night
He shouted down streets, “Come look at this world!”
He danced as he ran, he twisted and twirled.
He smiled a smile that everybody could see,
And it was contagious, as contagious could be.

Everyone started smiling as they looked to the sky
And no longer was anyone anywhere shy.
They finally came out, they saw the great sun
And Twitch’s big job was finally done.
Everyone was happy to live and to play
Everyone was happy our world changed its way…



 

…Except for the moon, which now envied the sun
Because during sun’s time, those people had fun.
They would look at the clouds and find all kinds of things
And they’d play with their kites connected to strings.
All they did for the moon was sleep in their beds
It could only imagine what went on in their heads.
The moon was upset, it huffed and it puffed
“Do they not like my glow?”  “Do I not shine enough?”
Am I so greedy? Do I hog all my light?
Am I not the most magnificent sight?
After nights of frustration, the moon started to see
It thought, “Maybe the world doesn’t revolve around me.”
That’s when the moon understood it was being unfair
So it spread out its light, it decided to share.
It lit up the stars and made the night great
So that sometimes people stayed up a bit late.
For they wished upon stars and found constellations
Pointing at all of the new star formations.
And the moons favorite thing that happened at night
Were the millions of cars that gave off their light.
It loved watching people drive back and forth
Up and down streets, south, east, west, and north.



Now the world was finally fit for a child
A breathtaking beauty, where everyone smiled.
And all because a boy, had one single dream
Behind all of those books, Twitch was more than he seemed!

 

Maybe one day you’ll read some books too
That show you wonderful things you can do
Maybe you’ll change the world, make a new name
Maybe a book will trigger your fame
Or maybe just maybe you’ll stay as you are
That’s okay too, for every one is a star.



                                                             ©2013 J. J. Close