The Man Who Read Us Stories

Verse

There was a man who read us stories

With dragons, moons, and sailing lights

He tied our shoes and dried our tears

And sent us laughing home at night

He knew the names of every child

And how we feared the thunder sound

But some folks watched with narrowed eyes

Whenever he was near around

Chorus

So one by one the gentle men

Learned distance was the safer road

And children grew with empty space

Where certain kinds of kindness go

Now no one says what has been lost

Or counts the warmth that disappeared

But silence leaves a colder room

When decent hearts are taught to fear

Verse

He left one year without a reason

At least none spoken near to us

The reading rug stayed rolled away

The room felt smaller after dust

The teachers said he found new work

The parents nodded, tight and brief

But I still remember how he smiled

Like kindness came to him with ease

Chorus

And one by one the gentle men

Learned distance was the safer road

And children grew with empty space

Where steady hands once helped them grow

For fear can keep a child from harm

And still push something good away

Until a world that wanted safety

Forgets the price it chose to pay

Bridge

Not every stranger should be trusted

Not every fear should be ignored

But somewhere wisdom lost its balance

And bolted shut a needed door

Final Chorus

So here’s to all the careful souls

Who stayed kind in a cautious age

And all the children who deserved

More loving guides upon the stage

Because a heart becomes much smaller

When warmth itself is treated strange

And every child should grow up knowing

Good men exist and help remain