I Corinthians 13:11
When I was a child, I spoke as a child.
I even had a child's disease. I ran
From the Doberman like all children
On my street, but old men called me
Special. The
Doberman caught up,
Chewed my right knee.
Limp now
In two places, I carried a child's Bible
Like a football under the arm that didn't
Ache. I was
never alone. I owned
My brother's shame of me. I loved
The words thou and thee. Both meant
My tongue in front of my teeth.
Both meant a someone speaking to me.
So what if I itched.
So what if I couldn't
Breathe. I
climbed the cyclone fence
Like children on my street and went
First when old men asked for a boy
To pray or to read.
Some had it worse--
Nobody whipped me with a water hose
Or a phone cord or a leash. Old men
Said I'd grow into my face, and I did.
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