Broken Bones
Broken Bones
Bless the broken bones of the upper Midwest.
Bones girls break doing backflips on a trampoline.
Bones boys break diving into leaves,
Not knowing we can’t trust
What has fallen to catch us.
What seems a tragedy at first —
the ER, the x-rays — isn’t.
If they were bullied before,
They find themselves pardoned now.
They get a pass on handwritten homework.
They get to sit in the bleachers during gym class,
An audience of one,
As if the dodgeball game is just for their entertainment.
Best of all, the chalky cast becomes scribbled over
With healing messages and hearts,
Inevitable as underbrush.
And the cast always comes off sooner than expected,
Because these kids live in a world
Where milk is abundant.