October 25 at 7 pm ET for the Women Writers Collective's celebration of the IWWG's culminating publication: Something Inside So Strong.

I will be reading one of the three poems in this collection. If you would like to listen, please register here. It's free.

Persecute

On Thursday, my young man pushed his glasses up his nose.

They are new, and he is aware of their presence, weighing him down.

The improvement of sight is obvious as he holds the book

at a proper level and doesn’t cock his head and neck at a strange angle.

He is excited and focused, tells me about Saturn having over 200

moons, we review his spelling and vocabulary. He practices his

math facts and then tells me he has a mark on his upper thigh

He wants to show me. He says he thinks he got bitten by something.

But as he tugs at his pants leg to slide past his knee

I remind him that it is something his mom should check and not me.

I know the boy is in trouble because Mom had called him

into her bedroom before tutoring started, a hushed rumble of voices.

His eyes look wet when we begin, going through his homework

folder and start to complete the packet of worksheets, the teacher

has dumped into the folder for the next two weeks.

She doesn’t understand boys like him, who need more support

and extra time to complete even the basics, and by giving him

too much work at one time, he gets overwhelmed and shuts down

Unlike his mother, who gets too ramped up and pushes too hard,

too fast, too much. It seems like not enough, and he is broken

by a belt on a thigh or his buttocks, but he cannot say because

she is recording us or watching us live, as she says, she is going

to the bank to get my pay, and I don’t trust the lack of privacy.

And when grandma texts me late at night that he has run away

I think, yes, yes, call the police, let CPS get involved, Mom needs

the support because she is working two jobs and going to school.

And I can’t sleep cause of worry, and he is not my child,

but I am responsible too. So, when I hear of belt marks on his thigh

I do call them to investigate, but I know nothing will happen;

there are too many children in harm’s way, and the burning nettle

grows in colonies in humid climates. The leaves and stems

are covered with long, fine, bristly hairs that irritate and blister

skin when handled. A prolonged tingling sensation may persist,

Repeated cultivation works best as a control for this weed.

Wrightings