It’s the lonely characters in books
that really make you cry
and you press your head
into my belly
as you choke on the question
where is their mama and dada
but today when we read
The Ugly Duckling
you didn’t just cry
you got mad
I’m gonna dead those mean birds
you say
and you make that face
that looks like Winston Churchill
and I hope for you
that the boy
inside the man
you will one day be
will still own both sides of his heart
the part that surges and cracks
and the part that rises up
to defend those that quiver.