When I ask Max why he hates our town he shrugs
aims his deep gray eyes at me
then turns and sweeps his arm
through the air
as if he waved it over the whole town
and he says
Too small.
Always the same.
I want to see what is out there-
and he stands on his tiptoe
as if he could see over the tops
of the trees
to the rest of the world.

I don’t understand Max.
The town seems huge to me
and never the same
everything changes;
the light, the smells, the sounds
and people coming and going
and growing bigger and older.

When Max says he will open camps
for boys like him
I ask him what kind of boy that is
and he aims his eyes at me again
and keeps them there
and keeps them there
and keeps them there
as he lifts one hand
to remove a leaf from my hair
and he says
Boys with nothing.

And he will not stand still for my reply.
He is already off and running
while I am wondering if I am apart
of
the
nothing.