mmmmcdi

youth

scattered across the
countryside like cows,
animals of a kind,
youth,
show us what they
think they have.
the rest of us
grow cross,
place one arm
over another and
glare or pretend
not to stare.
those with
more discipline
make good with
a side-eye of glum.
those with a modicum
of pity go about their
business without a
singular stance that
would not allow even the
blurriest patch of this ilk
into their peripheral visions, 

but be they ignoring, glimpsing,

or glaring that herd, they busy

bodies know that what these

distant younger middlings they

still call kids have. and they know
it is piping hot, too, down here
in the valley of the moment.
but more than that, the
naive show-offs practicing
their poses for each other,
and perhaps, but a much
smaller fraction, percentage-
wise, for their mothers and
fathers, those wise asses
who can’t keep their eyes

(or minds) off of them, have 

something those curious, envious
providers do not: a whole lot of
potential. but theworst part, and 

these loving oglers know this, too,
is that most will never begin
to see it, even if frantically
searching for it, whatever
it might be. and most
that do finally catch a
glimpse don’t bother

to lift a finger at it,
much less stretch out
a lanky arm, its bones
still vibrating from 
physical growth,
in a decent
attempt to
grasp it.