Gazing up at the night sky on a clear winter night he asked "Where do stars go during the day Dad?"
I responded "the stars are still up in space but the brightness of the sun on our side of the earth during the day is too bright for our eyes to focus on them"
After a deep breath he exclaimed "Why does it go dark then?"
"Get a football and tennis ball and I'll explain Son. Look, the football is the sun, Earth is the tennis ball"
I then held both ***** up in front of him mimicking earths rotation around the sun
"Earth rotates on its own axis like this as it also rotates around the sun. The dark side of the earth is night time. The side facing the sun which is bright is day time."
"Oh" he said wide eyed. He looked up to the sky again and paused.
.......
" Dad, Is there cheese on the moon?"
He gave no time for me to answer when he swiftly added.
"Shall I get you another ball so you can explain?"
Had to pen this one. Not a poem but always makes me chuckle when I think back to conversations I had with my son when he was 4.
I edited this as I remembered his witty comment after I'd tried to explain the cosmos using his football and tennis ball. Needless to say I was laughing too much to carry on and give him a straight answer!
I've never been to the moon and I like the thought that the moon is made of cheese so who am I to change his imaginative perception?