Three boys sit swinging
side by side in a blue hammock
laughing and pushing
eachother for the fun of it
sons of two sisters
my amazing neices
two boys are what we call
white while one is black

The skin of the white boys
is less white than tan
the black boy less black
than a dark chocolate brown
strange to think these cousins
will have such different lives
if only and in part thanks to
the color of their skin

The white boys will someday
be searching for a way
to introduce their ancestors
disparate as they are
Peruvian and Ashkenaz
and even damn Yankee
immigrants from England
from Russia, China and Japan
settlers from Spain
and first nation people
whose ancestors crossed from Asia
twelve thousand years ago
but for now this bouillebase
is content to simmer
silent on the back burner
of their young minds

The black boy
my wonderfully bright
and playful grand-nephew
thus far has had little
to do with the American
descendants of slaves
since his father is from Senegal
while his mother is a mix
of Jewish and Anglo
already you can see that
he's considering the difference
that makes him unique
in an otherwse white family
good that he's so smart
he has a long way to go