NaPoWriMo 26

Advice for My Son upon Entering Kindergarten


Don’t be surprised
if the other kids
wonder what you are.
They may make fun
of your Spider-Man backpack,
your brown bag lunch.
They don’t know
that it’s impolite to ask,
“Who’s your mama?”
or “Where’s your daddy?”
You are fair and smooth.
The girls will fall in love
with your long lashes
and tight curls shorn
close to your head.
They’ll fall in love with
the unanswerable in you,
while the boys will envy
your ease with them.
Be smart.
These boys may push,
cut you in line,
think they’re entitled
to something more.
The playground
is an unlikely place
to contemplate
the human condition.
They may look into
your coal-black eyes
and demand that you
choose your color,
yet we know black or white
is not that simple.
You are the best of both.
It’s your choice to choose
or not to. I say,
let that be your first
fuck you to the world.