"A Few Words About Girls for My Boy," a Poetry Post

My dear son,
as your body awakes,
every plump breast and
every round behind and
every pretty face will
make your soul ache
for a taste.

Let's talk about some
mistakes.

First, don't feel strange.
Like your dad says,
every man experiences this
awakening and the
early days are a race between
the lust and the maturity required
to choose the wise way.

Every boy your age is
equally assaulted,
equally distracted,
equally imbalanced,
even if he pretends to be
a savant.

I promise you,
he still thinks he wants what
you think you want,
or something similar.

But,
back to the mistakes
one might make
in your place.

Don't be disgraced by that
girl who's so fly that she
carries a compact mirror in her
purse to check her face
every five minutes.

We've been through this,
and we know that this sister feeds
on attention like a weed.

You'll never be able to meet her
gaze needs; it will take
one million men and
all of their eyes to
meet her quota.

Your two will never be enough,
and to her you will be a mixed breed
on a leash.

Let's talk about the pretty girl with her
goodies on display.

If you go after her,
you'll probably get some play,
but she's not looking for you.

She's looking for a dad to check her,
and you'll never be smart enough,
never be fine enough,
never be big enough in her mind to
meet that need.

Only God in time can
reign her in,
and you're likely to fall into sin
trying to win her.

I know that's upsetting.

Let's talk about the bright girl with
self-esteem issues.

You will be tempted to save her from her
depression.

She will divulge to you her
deepest insecurities and
open her World Book
to your sympathies.

But you cannot meet her needs.

You cannot be her psychiatrist
or her therapist;
and your love will never be enough,
never be enough,
never be enough.

When you feel excited by a
girl in whom your flesh delights,
remember your father and my's long nights.

Remember our hospital visits,
our disagreements,
our time with salves and bandages,
our sudden moves and times of peace.

When you're tempted to fall to lust,
think of me.

Since you're gonna be sick,
and you're gonna be broke,
just like you'll be well and
you'll be rich,
you'll need a permanent structure
in time who can
stick around through
all those seasons.

If you mess around and
pop out a few kids with
temporaries,
you'll miss your true rib.

And right now,
as much as your bodies say different,
ya'll are just kids.

There is time for sitting up late nights and
worrying over the telephone.

There is time for
sitting beside hospital beds.

There is time for
wiping tears.

For now,
let God build you up into a
holy house,
one that can withstand the storms of your day.

The storms will come son,
and when they come,
if you've got a female next to you,
you will want her to be
God's woman...

Not a teenage centerfold.

Not a video vixen.

Not a weeping willow.

A warrior.

I promise you child,
a warrior,
an Amazon,
an Esther,
a Deborah,
a woman who can
GET GOD'S ATTENTION
is required
in this life.

-T. D. James-Moss