a sense of wonder

For parents,
the birth of a child is a miraculous event.
Old myths say
a magical fairy gives to the child
gifts of human character.

I would ask that her gift
to each child in the world
would be a _sense_of_wonder_
so indestructable
that it would last throughout life,
as an unfailing antidote
against boredom and disenchantments of later years,
against the sterile preoccupation with things artificial,
against alienation from our sources of strength.

	(original by Rachael Carson adapted to basic English)