poem for elvira
the kids on your block called you a nigger
so you sat there and cried
until i called you a tigger
and a lion
and an elephant
and a dog cat snake
you still cried
telling me to stop making animal noises
but holding my hand hard
like at dinner with a first date
later into summer
i ran into you
early on a sunday morning
outside the public library
you were going to a children's movie
and when you ran up to me
and gave me your sweet embrace
many of the people waiting
frowned and stared
and didn't understand
when we both started to bark
Copyright © michael dennis / Ordinary Press 1982
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