Love

Let your offspring prosper under the cherry orchards.

When pastel pink rose petals flutter softly onto their gentle faces

And the wind and water and sun teach them the ways of life and growing.

Let them grow.

Fill their budding ears with the words of our ancestors

So pride will continue to remain alive and well

And they may know where they come from so that they can know where they are going.

Let them learn.

Kiss them on both cheeks and hug them tightly

To shield the scorn and shame from being called the Enemy

And tell them things will get better soon.

Let them listen.

Don’t look down on the friendship your daughter makes

With the white girl that exchanges a smile

Or when your son finds a pal in the brown boy down the block.

Let them love.

Allow America to weld its way into your home

And create branches in your young cherry orchards

And know that the roots will always grow down

Into the ground you first placed your feet on.

Let them adapt.

Promise love and affection and praise and discipline.

Keep watering your trees and support them.

Watch their branches reach high until they are high in the sky.

Let them live.

  -Alex McKay