kindergarten dream

Nursery debriefing in full swing

'What did you do today?'
'Did you have your lunch?'
'Were you naughty?'

He fields every question
but his answer
kills the conversation
abruptly, brutally
'I played with Black Natalie ...'

His middle class parents
are shocked into embarrassed silence
Even though it is a private
conversation, with
no audience to judge them

Unspoken questions hitch a ride
on worried glances:
'Where did we go wrong?'
'Are we closet racists?'

Mental hand wringing abounds
as political correctness lies bleeding

Oblivious to the drama
unfolding in silence around him
He restores peace in an instant
in his inimitable innocence:
'... as Red Natalie was too busy to play'


Of course, in his two year old eyes
the colour of someone's clothes
trumps the colour of their skin

And why not? after all
there is more of the former
on display when we look at
one another

If only the adult world
could live up to his
kindergarten dream