I wish you had found me
When I was six.

I wish you had entered my world then
And stirred by consciousness
Like you did
When we first met,
Two decades later.

I think of all the children
Like me;
Young, spirited
And vulnerable.

Who didn't know
They were poor.

Who had no phones or TVs;
Only radios
In their homes.

Who didn't know
There were literary giants in the world
Who looked like them.

Who were fed a steady white diet
Of history, literature and
Religion...

I would've had an albatross
On my deck.

I would've had big-dream winds
Beneath by sails.

I would've been
The black mariner of lore
Shielded through the raging storm...

Not shipwrecked;
Left like shark bait to navigate
The turbulence of prepubescent life
Rife with philistines and predators.

My ship and treasure
Would've landed sooner,
Safely onto destiny's shores.

And my poetry
Wouldn't be

So blue...

AYO

~P
#iwish
(3/27/2023)