Comes a momentwhen a child’s empathy is tested.Like heavy snow on the slenderest branchyou hope for deep bend, no cracking.You should have knownthere’s nothing brittle about her.You watch her choose the rightbut painful thing,swelling with tears to near-burstbut she does not break.She is pliable; she is green.And mama, you too must bend.What do you choose in the face of her tears?You are the oak.Describe your pride, your weathering,your wonder at her strength, thenjoin her in sorrow.
Dear Corey asked the Real Toads to write about a time when we did not know how to feel about what was happening. It’s #28 of 30 Poems in November to benefit Center for New Americans.