tender ~ a black boy song (for Jordan & Nicholas) my two suns are light and joy and black brilliance sometimes my youngest son is all teen talkback my oldest, all queer young adult swag together they be black boy magic my sons be black boy magic they quote baldwin & lorde & lawd how they still shine in amerika even when they argue, they have each others backs in our house boys can cry or dye their hair color of the rainbow our home is a rainbow, our boys are a house filled with love our teen asked his big brother how to shave his newly grown pandemic beard last night his big brother surprised him with his first beard trimmer set lovingly showed his younger brother how to shave for the first time first to wet his face, then spread shaving cream and gently guide the blade without cutting himself they root for each other, like nobody’s business they been marching together for pride and black lives since they could walk our oldest son has no patience for his two mamas and our questions, but this past semester, during a pandemic, let his little brother talk to him for hours on end by video chat, about nothing and everything, at least once a week while sheltering-in 3,000 miles away on his California campus some days my mama heart bursts or breaks for black boys what i am trying to say is every black boy is my son all suns are black boys shining
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