BLACK BANANA
When my daughter wants to know
how someone could leave a baby
in a car all day by accident,
I think about how a few years back
she left a banana
wedged behind her car seat
for an entire week
and we could not
figure out what stunk.
After finding it, I looked up
“black bananas” online,
discovered there is a band
that goes by that name and
mothers who blog about
finding them forgotten
in diaper bags.
I saw images of
black banana hair clips
and big, black cocks.
I felt guilty that I wasn’t
patient enough, loving enough
calm enough to take a mistake
and turn it into a lesson.
Back then, I yelled at her
as if she had murdered
the banana, Look what you did!
I screamed, waving it at her
before throwing it into our backyard.
Now, I am thinking about that banana
as she waits for my response,
how if somehow
I could peel it,
the answer would be there
like banana bread
just pulled from the oven.
—Poets Respond
July 6, 2014
__________
Rebecca Schumejda: “I don’t think that I need to explain the news story as it is obvious, but Justin Ross Harris was charged this week with felony murder and second-degree child cruelty for leaving his 22-month-old son in his hot car while at work on June 18th.” (web)
