It’s a darkness of hair and a smallness of room
That you bring, smiling, a small you from a small room
A willingness, bigger than both your hands

When you lift your head from a drawing and meet me
Tell me more, why, who lives in your one-room apartment
It’s a piece of you that I extracted carefully, questioned carefully
It’s a darkness of hair and a smallness of room

What I love to do: give you my pencils to keep
Another: forget to tell you to slow down as you read
A willingness, bigger than both your hands

You asked me what video games my brothers play
Without waiting for an answer, you told me your own
It’s a darkness of hair and a smallness of room

Your brother does not speak: something I’ll never forget
“I only know the name for what he has in Spanish: autista”
It’s a small-handed offering of what both of us need today
It’s a darkness of hair and a smallness of room
A willingness, bigger than both your hands