Everyone Says Boys Can't Play with Dolls

'Everyone says that I can't

play with dolls because I'm a boy.'

He was four, in kindergarten.

A little girl showed her new doll.

'I really wanted that doll, but

everyone said I couldn't.'

'What makes you a boy?' I asked him.

'Yes, it's that thing between your legs.

'If you play with a doll, will that

drop off? No; you'll still be a boy.

Everyone who says you can't

play with dolls is talking bullshit.'

I was that kind of Mum. And I

went out and bought him his own doll.

He cradled and sang to her. Then —

as everyone says, boys can't.

He never dressed her, he never

combed her hair. And when he was done,

he threw her on a heap with his trucks.

That's how my boy played with his doll.

Poetic Asides April Poem A Day Challenge 2013, 25: Everyone ...

(I'm calling this an extended quatern because I had to give it an extra verse, in which I also abandoned the chorus.)

Submitted for Poets United's Poetry Pantry #148