who surround your former life and consume it,
who skip through the house singing
commercials from TV, on their way
to becoming American consumers,
who pilfer Pokémon cards from the drug store,
then teach you their magic powers,
who sneak off to smoke cigarettes,
who believe that Michelangelo and Donatello
are sewer-dwelling mutant Ninja turtles,
not just Italian Renaissance painters,
who bring home a puppy and beg you
to let them keep it, only to leave him at home
as they go in search of adulthood, who hibernate
like grungy bears, who molt clothing
throughout the house, who think parents
are so stupid until suddenly we are wise,
who disappoint all my plans for them,
while finding their own paths.
