this is the normal template
what is normal
what is a template

we try to give our Children a normal existence
power rangers
barbie dolls
we feed them milk
not too much chocolate
and we love them
just enough to make them strong
give them healthy lives
they grow up dysfunctional
...normal

it’s been a year and a half
i still feel
like only half
like part of me is missing
like our Baby who died
weeks after conception
maybe she knew
we were only a half
not whole

i saw the Children of haiti today
a little boy
Larry
left to die
malnutrition
4 months later
he’s a round little brown boy
where is his mother
who will teach him to fish

i cry daily for our Boys
a quarter will never live
a quarter of a century
a quarter will be jailed
who will love our little brown boys

what if our Baby was a boy
maybe he died so Stephen, Brandon, and Terrance
could live to be more than quarters
whole men