Magic Telescope

MAGIC TELESCOPE

I once learned a secret that made me stand up tall

To hang on with my life to the brightest star of all

So I made myself a spyglass — a star drawn on the lens

Out of three concentric tubes fitted end to end

It had a magic power when used at dawn or dusk

When sunshine is golden upon an elephant’s tusk

A magical telescope the star that gives one hope.

People seem more friendly lit by the setting sun

And through a golden lens skin tones become as one

Standing in the sunset — red yellow black and white

All races turn to gold as they face the amber light

Mother said I was “golden” when I was four or five

Aren’t kids who feel loved a lot more apt to thrive

A magical telescope the star that gives one hope.

You can see a world of faults and be on the attack

Or mend a cup with gold and marvel at the crack

Do the world some good tell each daughter and son

To find the heart of gold — it’s there in everyone

How you view the world fills your cup to the brim

Drink from a cup of darkness see light on the rim

A magical telescope the star that gives one hope.

Nov 27 2014 © Stefan des Lauriers

It so happened in the mid-Sixties when "Esso" was having the "Put a Tiger in your Tank" campaign and would stuff a tiger tail in your gas-cap when you pulled in for a fill up. It was also around the time when my good buddy was a budding kleptomaniac. He would swipe the Tiger Tails from parked cars only to surreptitiously insert them into the gas caps of unsuspecting Police cars.

I was in Grade seven at the old limestone School house on Bruce Street and was witness to one of the most unusual spectacles in Acorn's history. Mystical Drifters in a wagon drawn by a white horse had stopped in front the school and were enticing children to look into their "Magic Telescope."

"Magic Telescope, Magic Telescope, see the star that gives everyone hope," the man with the handlebar moustache barked, "Only one nickel." I thought it must be magic to see a star in a bright blue sky, so I lined up to take a look with my measly nickel in my hand. When it came my turn I paid the Mystical Drifter woman and was handed the Magic telescope. I should have known better because everyone who looked at it was frowning in disgust.

When I looked into the telescope I was in for a shock. It was just a cheap cardboard telescope with the outline of a star drawn on the far lens. "You cheated me," I protested, "This is just a star drawn on the lens!"

"You are looking through a star", the Mystical Drifter woman said. "Did you ever dream that you would be able to see through a star?"

I was just about to ask for my money back when a police car pulled up with a tiger tail in its gas cap. The Mystical Drifters jumped into the wagon and raced off the school property. I don’t know if was the police car itself or the fact that there was a "Tiger in the Tank" that terrified the Mystical Drifters into bolting away.

To this day I let people look into the "Magic Telescope" for free and it has never failed to put a smile on their faces.




© 2006 S K des Lauriers

MAGIC TELESCOPE

I was looking at the world

With a magic telescope

Through a golden lens

There was so much hope

Everything that I surveyed

Was much larger than life

I saw a sword

That was just a carving knife

My golden heart had been refined

By a love so high and pure

Like a golden fish

In a muddy stream

Destined to endure

People look like friends

When lit by the setting sun

Through a golden lens

Skin tones blend into one

The Golden Gate at Sunset

Red yellow black and white

All races turn to gold

Facing the amber light

It’s like looking in a broken mirror

Staring in the window of a soul

Some see stars when they get nearer

Others just see black holes

So I looked in the other end

To see what I could see

And all I saw a giant eye

Looking back at me

Everything was small

Except for that giant “I”

Is that how God sees us

Looking down from the sky

Telescopes should be trained on Mars

Not on this world we inhabit

That ‘black hole beyond the stars’

Might just be home to a rabbit

June 15, 2013 © Stefan des Lauriers