In grade school
my best friend Freddy
was from Nicaragua
and even though he was two years older
then us
and set back in grades
the bullies used to try beat him up
all the time
as the other kids circled around
shouting: kill the brown kid!
the groups of girls forever curious
but thinking of their fathers
and Freddy was older and faster and stronger
and would often get the better of
the bullies
so that the parents would demand
the removal of the foreign kid
who came from violence
and did not know
better.
reubenwoolley 