I entered school less than best-dressed
But jazzed them nonethess 
With my knowing
At home, they did their best 
My God! They were kids
What had they that I might glean
‘though, they gave me a closet of dresses
Sometimes ragged denim 
And space decorated with what kids need
Animals, charicatures, loveliness, love
I put it all on 
That my height not betray
My child’s age
I came away from those tall years
Not half bad

I went back in a dream
Early one day
Spent from the years of adult nonsense 
Wearing again ragged denim
Too short for my legs
I chose to hide foraging
In some school closet 
For someone else’s clothes 
That I’d fit in
That I’d not look to old for him
Too young for them
That they’d understand my intellect
My heart
I’m happy to say, nearing the end, I am
Not half-bad