healthy, growing boy

When he was still little and proud
of his new stature his parents
kept paper dixie cups with floral
patterns hanging in a plastic
holder above the sink.

One day their parents were out
and the boys had a girl
babysitter watching them play
outside and when they came in
to get water his brother still
tiny asked her in mumbles
and motions for a floral paper
cup and she said, “No. They aren’t
good for the environment.”

In hindsight she was probably
right but when she turned
there he was drinking
from a flowering cup
and he felt her looking at him
in that uncomfortable silence
for them both and he knew
then in his little heart
something was coming.