Nine Lives
O when I was nine
I was still a child
there was no instant communication
news travelled slow
on the radio TV news newspapers
delay that provided an innocence
I knew about war
because my Dad had fought in one
he was a man
my mother was a woman
I was a boy child
who only knew what the culture
of the time
reported of my gender
O when I was nine
I wasn’t aware of so much
I did know I wasn’t like other boys
I played backlot-baseball
I played with dolls
I wasn’t the son my dad expected
I didn’t like to fight
like other boys
I never understood
why physical violence was required
to be accepted
O when I was nine
I had indulged in sex play
with boys and girls
looking at the differences
anatomy I didn’t understand
the boys where more interesting
I didn’t come out
but I knew shame
when we were caught
I had fear
but no closet
sex was dirty regardless
of gender
O when I was nine
I don’t know I was swimming
that I was making waves
as I dog-paddled from nine to nineteen
by that time I knew
these were dangerous waters
O at nine there was only
the fear of getting caught
not the fear
of my culture drowning me
like an unwanted litter of kittens
that were denied their nine lives
Hey! Now you can give me $$$ to defray blog fees & buy coffee on my trip to Cape Breton – sweet,eh? paypal.me/TOpoet
Like my pictures? I post lots on Tumblr
