Last night, my little girl asked this of me,

“Daddy, please tell me a story

It must have magic, it must have mystery

It must have love!”

So, once upon a time there was a princess,

Anxious to grow up

Anxious for her prince

Anxious for her love

She had a magic locket with a magic clasp

And when she longed for love the most

She opened it and sprinkled magic dust

Upon her breakfast toast

Saying, “Take me to my future,

Make me all grown up and such,

Take me to my prince,

Take me to my love.”

It never really took her anywhere

Except within her heart, where

She thought she saw a handsome prince

Waiting for her love.

She wondered if he’d like her,

Would she be pretty for his smile?

Would he put her up upon his horse,

And let her ride awhile?

She went away to princess school,

Where some just didn’t know,

And treated her quite ordinary,

Because the princess didn’t show.

There, she’d open up her locket,

Sprinkling dust upon her dream,

That someday soon her prince would know,

He held a princess in his gleam.

Today my daughter called to me,

“Daddy, guess what? if you can;

My prince just asked me marry him

And I just have time to plan-

A summer song to learn to love

And see with him the world

Then off to school, his medical school

And all the while, his girl!”

What happed to that long lost time?

Did that magic locket steal it?

‘Cause my little girl’s a princess fine

And nothing can conceal it.

Tomorrow, in the magic kingdom

I’ll see my grown-up princess smile

And I’ll escort her slow to meet her prince

At the ending of the aisle.

“Aw, Daddy,” my daughter clapped and cried,

“Will it really end that way?”

“Of course it will,” I grandly sighed,

“It will be your wedding day.”

Now, ever after, is just a phrase

Without your locket’s magic dust

And happily, some nostalgic phase

Without mutual love and trust.

Your childhood mystery’s at an end

But let that locket shape your life

Respect your prince, your prayed for friend

And share his castle, as his wife.

Some days you’ll find pairing’s easy

While others, drain you more than most

But on the days you’re downright queasy,

Slowly chew some sprinkled toast.