Step Son

for Kevin Steeves

For someone who never had a baby
I'm not doing too bad
sitting here in a high school auditorium just like
a real parent,
trying not to be too obvious when I wave back at
the sort of subtle flourishes of the first clarinet.
Positively dashing, this child not-of-my-body,
born of seven years of my care.
My heart dances with delight and even
gratitude, me who was always too impatient
to wait for a baby to grow. Now look at me,
blessed with a fifteen year old man
who bends over from six feet of solicitude
and honours me with the question asked only of friends,
How's it goin', dude?

- Kate Braid

From Covering Rough Ground by Kate Braid. Polestar Press Ltd., 1011 Commercial Dr., Vancouver, Canada V5L 3Xl. Used by permission.