For Piccolo

Little Black boy’s first Black male role model
is green. Broken, grumpy, hell-bent
on hurting someone, like his father. To be a child
is to inherit sin.

still

when there was no man to play dad
there was a man who would destroy the moon
just to let a boy sleep soundly. Sure, he made
chaos. But he made it in your name.

redemption

be the solace every man wants to earn
without working for it. i see the moon
and think of my father, guiltless being, who must
see it too. A boy learns man to mean

leaving

a child to grow up in a forest. A Black boy dreams
of a man who appears, after many seasons, with a new
soul, who says little, but touches your forehead soft
and teaches you everything. A boy is waiting to find

man

in someone. All my heroes were evil once
but at least they returned in time for dinner.
Imagine that? All it takes to be a good man
is to come back.