Breed

In 1980 a boy

I will never forget

with a sneer of copied hate-

passed down from

Them

the deceived and deprived

Depraved blamers

pointed his finger

at me

Did he have an audience?

A cheering section

Scared to not agree, no doubt

I was told

at recess I would be shot

For my ancestry

That may be my only

Memory

So stark from that year

Yesterday, my son

Same sweet age I was then

He is now

History repeats they say

And through the woods

They made a game

Of their escape

Evacuate

For

Some

Poisoned voice

Called to exercise his right

To hate

Was this a call from my generation?

What happened to my first grade bully

Did he graduate or pull the alarm

Satisfied by the power?

He could create panic

To calm our youth with no answers

We learn the past to not forget

To teach forgiveness in the face

Of lessons we thought

We already learned

May my child and all the children

Remember no fear

That the path they walked

Down this year

Was only guiding them

To love