Gardens of Hate

I remember tending gardens of hate:
Talking trash words I didn't understand,
standin' round, lookin' down, stayin' up late --
Acting like the older kids had it all planned!

Of course, we thought we knew it all back then,
And anyone that looked like us, was "in."
Anyone who looked right...
Anyone who talked right...
And all you need is the right color skin.

Then, one night in the gardens of my mind,
I felt something grow heavy on my plate!
It slid away, leaving nothing to find...
At once, it seems, my garden lost its freight,
At once, my hateful garden had no weight!

Mick McKellar
June 2018

I remember that some of us were  never good at tending our little gardens of hate.

Mick