Friday, May 18, 2007

I am


I am hands and hair
I am the sun on your skin when the clouds finally break
I am the sloppy kiss of puppy you found abandoned
the last m&m
the last pile of leaves
I am the smell of dirt and rain
I am the grass that caresses your back
the seed stem tickling your foot
I am rowdy and loud
I am dirty hands
dirty mouth
I am bugs and stones
shells and bones
Otter-pops and dots and zots
Moxie blue cream
your first wet dream
I am the ring of freedom
I am the memory of what we were
before the world grew tame and civilized
I am your first bitten lip
I am fireworks
peeing in the swimming pool
your first dirty magazine
and never getting caught
I am scout
I am the howl with the dogs when the fire engine blazes by
I am the first time you didn’t cry
when the band aid got ripped off
and the first time you did
when mom broke her hip
I am the river
the lizard basking
the satyr in the school play production
and in your dream last summer
I am jackass written in big bold colors
on your neighbor’s driveway
and the toilet paper hanging from his trees
I am the irreverent laughter in the 16th pew
bibleschool bully and your best friend
skipping out and running naked
through the fields and streams out behind the rectory
because god was never in this building
he’s always been right here
inside of me
I am boy
I am forever
boy