by Brian Yapko

to see, unsee and

then forever-see

this pale little boy

this pirate-superboy-

clown who would

not stay because he

had other plans

written into the

strangeness

of his blood, a

genetic defiance he

couldn’t pronounce

but we called

he-mo-feel-ya.

but he could laugh

and play piggy with

too many sweets;

he could stomp and

shout and see

everything

unblinking –

until his eyes

closed and, clutching

mr cuddles to him,

entered the land

of forever dreaming;

where the color red

is banished; that

most special place

from which he has

reemerged as

a poem named

jimmy.