There are others,

I am sure,

That if I put my mind to it, if

I allowed myself to put under

and

Have my mind probed,

Mined of coal, the hope of diamonds

Springing

Eternal, I would dismiss them,

For my first memory is

One of exclusion,

Watching a blank-faced nursery school teacher

Explain to my despairing

Mother that they had no room

For a boy

Like me.

Ian D. Hall 2020