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.