Nurture

If you can nurture these
kids, flawed as you
may be, nurture them
so they grow
strong and ready to handle it all, you
flawed as you may be, you
are a woman and
if you man-nurture a child to be resonant you
are a man
bringing new life to a prime, to a
radiance of being, if you

can just touch and maintain
the touch for a time, a long enough
time to grow them

I was
never there for them, I was
with them for a time and they grew
and flowered and laughed and
indeed skipped and chortled and
indeed created artworks on
MSPaint, in my lap, their early
fingers dancing on the keyboard, their

early fingers dancing on the
mouse, Kristen did it, did it
so well and I miss her, her
haunting finger on the mouse a yellow
background is what I
remember best, the yellow background with the green
tracings on it, I christened it
“A tree Grows in Eggland,” and she
giggled, but now

she is fat and adolescent, and
doesn’t care any more, too
many fathers and too many
beatings
witnessed on her mother by
passers-by and I was only
the step

grand-daddy—there for a time and when she later said
Nanny? Nanny?

Where is Carlie—where is my carliebear, Nanny said:

“He is gone away child”

-30-