Off the Cuff 19: Found Out & The Pinchy Boy

Found Out

Two small boys dash
along the pavement.
Off to school!
"Late!" my daughter says.
"They're early!"
"I mean the ones not
scooting to school.
I mean the waggers
in the skateboard park."
"Oh."

"That's one thing I never did,"
she says after that slight pause.
"Skateboarding? Scooting?"
"No, wagging."
"Yes," I say, "You did become a
conscientious attender."
(Smug mother)
"Yeah," she says, "When I was
a conscientious attender, I
never wagged. I just
pretended to be sick."

I laugh.
She looks a little peaky.


NaPoWriMo 19


The Pinchy Boy

Nameless other than that.
No wonder he pinched.
Made the girls cry. Little
misogynist. Or practical
tear-jerker addicted as
an arsonist, and boys
don't cry, won't cry.

Pinched my sister, not
me, unaware of other
victims. Perhaps she
asked for it? Her dress
too short, shorts too
tight, attitude to nudity
flagrantly punishable?

I wonder what became
of him, who he became?
After Kindergarten and
all that playtime, how
did he fare? I wonder, too
whether my own son was
ever named The Bitey Boy.

Will I one day read a poem
or short story in a feminist
collection, charging my boy
with politically incorrect
hungers? Or see a movie about
both: Skin Lovers Beware!?

APAD 19   prompt: name of person as title