The Boy, The Brave Girls
A pregnant woman in pink
Comes to the water
Behind her a tiny girl
In a yellow leather bikini
Follows, talking to her friends
And holding the hand of a
Timid boy, her brother
He loves being with the girls, tries
To be courageous around them
But the girls pull him into the sea
And when the water reaches
His waist he screams, struggling
To find the shore, wild-eyed,
Weeping
The girls are not upset by this
They surround him;
Saying “It’s okay, it’s okay.”
And lift him up away from the sea.
The boy smiles, transformed
The brave girls
How wonderful they are, how true
He wants to be with them forever
box turtle road 
Love this poem, Gary! I so want this to be how all boys/men feel–to know how true and brave girls/women are and to be happy among them: not afraid, not angry, not taking.
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Laura, you nailed my intention in the poem, and in the book I’m working to publish this summer, which could just as easily be sub-titled as Notes From a Womanist. We should talk.
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I enjoyed readinng your post
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