School doors open with a bang
The playground fills
groups of boys and groups of girls
never to mix
Boys at play
Pushing and shoving
bossy boys
“I’m next, get lost”
cursing boys
“Its my turn, God damn it”
fighting boys
“Oh yer, whatcha gona do about it”
I was one of them
a cursing sometimes fighting boy
independent
competitive
Girls at play
“Let’s play on the swings”
“And then on the slide”
“You’ll love the monkey bars”
“And what about the roundabout?”
Often in my mind
but forever unspoken
forever hidden
the wish for the spirited play of girls
sharing
cooperative
Girls at play
for them I am a boy unseen
ignored
unknown
For me
unaccepted
alone
the wish to be one of them.
