Growing Up

When did 
my greedy paws 
start feeding my brother and sister? 

When did 
my elders fables 
revamp from boring to brilliant? 

When did 
I stop wailing to the world 
and start muting my tears in the bathroom?

When did 
clowning with boys 
turn into warnings about their evil ways? 

And when did I realize that time on the bus when the boy bullied my braids ran deeper and darker like the glow of my skin? 

When did I start growing up? 
 

Geri

MD

16 years old

More by Geri

  • Dawn to Dusk

    Light is lobbed to the leaves and they cradle it 

    In the evening they throw it back to the sun 

    whose tendrils collect it 

    then go home 

  • Peace

    I think peace looks like:  

    driving on the highway from College Park  

    listening to “White Ferrari” 

    by Frank Ocean