This is for the boys

(who answer my questions,

even the ones that begin and end in 'why?')

Although there should be,

there is no calendar date

set aside for the men in my life.

The longest day of the year

wouldn’t have enough hours in the day

to celebrate what they can (and cannot) do.

No one thought to book off

all the days they fixed the

“un-repairable” and irreplaceable,

that which I have broken, or even

that which they broke.

And the banks forgot to close

when they sing happy birthday

(to me, or my mom)

or when they bought the matching cake.

There is no medal

for seeing me cry, doing my dishes,

letting me sleep and waking me up.

No one got paid overtime 

walking me home or changing the light bulbs.

There is no calendar out there

that staggers names across dates 

and bullet points their achievements

(it would be far too lengthy).

Even so,

There are no words in print

that could celebrate them the way I do.

This is for the boys who 

can reach the top shelf.

This is for the boys 

who’ve helped me do my homework,

who carve the meat,

climb the ladders, 

turn the screws,

paint the walls,

cook 

and clean,

sing and dance,

use power tools 

rip things down 

and build them back up again.

They chase, lose and find the dogs, 

set things on fire

and still find the time to be golden.