I Need You Now

Hello Mama.
Just thanking you for having me here.
You’ll suckle me for over a year.
You’ll wipe my poopy bum.
Our best is yet to come.

And Mama,
You’ll pay for things and schlep me to school.
Make sure I learn that golden rule;
No means no, and fair is fair.
It’s obvious you care.

But I need you NOW,
as the knives draw near.
I’m screaming right out loud.
Would that you were here.
Mom, I need you NOW,
on circumcision day.
Bust that damned door down
And spirit me away.

Mama,
I’ll ask you what if I’d been a girl?
I’ll ask about the rest of the world,
Where boys are left intact?
So easy not to act.

And Mama,
You’ll come to be the voice of regret.
I’ll use it daily. Who could forget?
Your activism’s nice.
But still I pay the price.

So I need you NOW,
As the knives draw near.
I’m screaming right out loud.
Would that you were here.
Mom, I need you NOW,
On circumcision day.
Bust that damned door down
And spirit me away. Away. Away.

Why have they strapped me down?
My body, my choice.
“Male” is not a diagnosis.
Can no one hear my voice?
My foreskin’s not a birth defect.
We, the healthy normal boys,
can make decisions as adults.
As infants we make noise.
You don’t trust me to wash myself?
Don’t trust yourself to teach me?
You don’t trust nature to design?
But trust is how you’ll reach me.
I NEED to feel the love.

And I need you NOW,
As the knives draw near.
I’m screaming right out loud.
Would that you were here.
Mom, I need you NOW,
On circumcision day.
Bust that damned door down
And spirit me away.
Away. Away. Away.