DOES ANYONE CARE?

I ask Albert:
“Why do grown-ups even bother
to act like us kids have any say
in our lives?”
Albert is tracking a bug
across his backyard.
“Who knows,” he says.
I go on: “Did anyone ask me
if Dad should leave?”
Albert keeps tracking.

“Does anyone care that
I don’t want to move?”
More tracking.
“Or that I don’t want any part
of this stupid restaurant?”
Turns out Albert’s bug
has wings. It flies away.
Albert gives me this excited look.

“That was a box elder bug, Bindi!
They fool you.
They look like crawlies
but when they need to,
they fly.”