BACK

When I was little

Sometimes I would go to my grandpa’s house

He had bamboo in his back yard

A greenhouse

Big hands

And a pool filled with cold water

But I liked swimming in it

There was an Orca tiled into the bottom that I would dive down to

He would give me “Highlights” magazines to read

And the tagline “Fun with a Purpose” I misread

As synonymous with that Orca

 I wondered what his deal with whales was…

I was told he loved us, but he was hard and rough

Aside from the pool

The big hands

The greenhouse

And the bamboo

What I remember most about going to my grandpa’s house

Was how he used to point out how skinny and stupid I was

So I decided

Right in that cold water

That when I grew up

I would be neither

No matter what