so here i sit
atop your shelf
just hoping that maybe
maybe today will be the day
that you take me down
dust me off
and play with me again
but that magical day
doesn't come by
so much anymore

you're very busy
going in and out of
your little room
and picking up so many
different things
that seem to strike your fancy
a comb over there
the mp3 player on your nightstand
that box of little rubbery things
what are those things anyway?
kinda like balloons
but i've never seen you
actually blow one up
they seem to fit nicely, though
on that little thing you have there
well...okay...maybe not so little
i do apologize...

and don't think i haven't
taken note of the fact
that you are now a handsome
young man
my eyes may be plastic
but i can still see
and see well
i was made back in a time
when things were still made
with quality and pride
they took a lot of
time to make me
but they seem to have
forgotten some things
they never sewed one of
those wee little parts
on me like what you have
guess i could never wear a balloon!

goodness...i do digress
please try and forgive...okay?
anyhow...look at you...
you're so much bigger these days
why i remember way back when
when you were only about my size
you were scared of me at first
you'd stutter and stammer
and say "lookit that...
that big ole bear!"
but you grew to love me, didn't you?
and you slept with me every night
holding me close to your little heart
thump thump
thump thump

we were all so innocent back then
i was just a baby myself
but i wasn't brought in by the stork
like they said you were...no...
some dude called f.a.o. schwartz
sold me to your father
don't ask me who that is...
but he had lots and lots
of kids just like me...
i remember we used to all sleep
in this big ole room at night
and in the daytime
little kids would come in
and pick us up with
their grubby greasy fingers
and oh...they were so smelly!
but you never smelled bad
you always smelled like baby powder
and choclate chip cookies
oh how i loved that smell

and we were such pals
you rode me round everywhere in
that little wagon of yours
i must confess now
that it made me a bit queasy
but i'm proud to say
that not once...no never
did i throw up
but then again
i never eat anything
you tried to feed me some pie once
but that was a disaster
and mom yelled at you so much

but then, like i said, you grew
and i grew with you...
but not so much on the outside
as on the inside
my heart grew
and you became a young man
and i was so enamored
of your burgeoning young life
and i do love you very very much
but in that bittersweet way
that a longtime devoted companion
loves their master
the one who takes care of them
and who teaches them about love
and life and what it means
to actually breathe
i'd like to breathe just for a day once
just so i could draw it all in...you know..?

but i can see...you don't even
take me to bed anymore
i've almost forgotten the thumping
of your heartbeat
the magic of being so near
someone...not just anyone...
but you
who is so full of life...
but i'm no fool
i wear a ridiculous bowtie
but i'm not a fool
i can plainly see
that you don't really need
me anymore, do you?
but you don't have the heart
to get rid of me, do you?

Every once in a blue moon
you will take me off the shelf
just for a few minutes
to reflect upon your past
and you giggle
and you smile
and you bite your tongue
and you put me back away
it means so very much to me
to even give you that much joy
if only for a split second
doesn't happen much now
and i'd be lying if i said
it doesn't make me a little sad

someday i know
you'll grow up even beyond this
and goodness knows where i'll be
when that time comes
a second-hand store perhaps
a dumpster? gulp!
perish the thought!
but you will...ultimately
leave me behind
i know this
and i think deep down inside
you know this too
and we'll have to move on
it'll be the absolute
hardest thing i've ever done

but for now i'll just sit on your shelf
listen to your clock tick
and remember
the days when we were golden.