DEPARTURE: Meeting the Mentor

“Listening to Peter and the Wolf with Jason, Aged 3” by A.E. Stallings

Meeting the Mentor

Your mentor may be old and wise, young and fluid. The mentor gives the hero advice, training, and possibly even magical gifts needed for the journey.

My mentor is perennially 3 years old. Let’s call him Jason, after the subject of A.E. Stallings’ poem.

Listening to Peter and the Wolf with Jason, Aged 3

Jason, aged 3, has two things going for him. One, he’s young enough to not see any boundary between things visible and unvisible. That’s useful for this adventure into evening.

Also, little Jason is musical. I’m part of my church’s music ministry, and I often join a seasonal choir or two, and music speaks a language that words don’t and can’t.

With Jason as my guide, all is right with me, even if it’s not right with the world.

Be a Hero

If you know who your mentor is, fabulous. If not, try listening to Sergei Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf. The story has plenty of characters to choose from, including Peter, the duck, the bird, the hunters, the grandfather, the cat, and of course, the wolf. What gifts does your mentor have for you?

Sit with the poem this week. See if you can memorize one line.

https://soundcloud.com/megan-willome/listening-to-peter-and-the-wolf-with-jason-aged-3-by-ae-stallings

Try to learn a little of this poem by heart.

What does it say about your hero’s journey?

If you like, email me at megan.willome@yahoo.com.

“Megan Willome has captured the essence of crow in this delightful children’s collection. Not only do the poems introduce the reader to the unusual habits and nature of this bird, but also different forms of poetry as well.”

—Michelle Ortega, poet and children’s speech pathologist