Dear World,
If I fool myself into thinking you will listen to this,
Sorry for the informal style. I’d like to apologize in advance.
I recall, when I was four, I wrote a letter, to George Bush, at the time president.
I was too innocent to know it would not fall into his hands.
It stated, roughly, in a four-year-old’s crude scrawl,
Dear President,
What’s gonna happen to the polar bears?
Decorated with a four-year-old’s art, a border of disorderly, clumsy leaves
A couple of clouds,
And at the bottom, a large polar bear, snout rather long.
The body strange and large
From, a concerned: 4 year old girl.
Nonsensical.
Returning, from the white house;
A picture of George Bush and his wife,
Standing in an ornate room,
Smiles glazed, feigned, posed.
It came with a note, saying, in essence:
Thank you, small unimportant child, for your ideas.
Your consideration, a note we would not read.
Later, I tried, with Obama
A typed note, perfectly reasonable.
I was around nine or ten.
Maybe eleven.
I got sent back… What? A picture of his daughters? Smiles, just like those of the Bushes,
Glazed, feigned,
“Tour of the white house!”
“Puzzles!”
I think my mom was more excited than me with the packet I got.

Now, approaching fourteen,
Approaching high school,
Working on my opinions, views,
Grades,
Social life,
A thirteen-year-old girl.
Finding my sexuality,
Reading way too many books,
That question lasts still:
Through all the changes I’ve had,
Turned vegan,
Found out I liked girls,
Learning what it’s like to be bullied,
Finding friends and joy in theatre
Still:
What’s gonna happen to the polar bears?
No. Don’t answer.
Please.
I don’t want to know.
As I waste energy,
Lose sleep ‘cause I procrastinated on that huge Civics project on genocides due tomorrow,
Start to fight my way through Hamlet,
I guess I’ll just live life out to its fullest.
But...
What’s gonna happen to the polar bears?
Rushing to finish my math homework,
What’s gonna happen to the polar bears?
Getting up early for jazz band,
What’s gonna happen to the polar bears?
Sleeping through my alarm,
What’s gonna happen to the polar bears?
Zoning out in class cause I didn’t sleep last night,
What’s gonna happen to the polar bears?
Looking for my friend in the hallways,
What’s gonna happen to the polar bears?
Checking ingredients for gelatin,
What’s gonna happen to the polar bears?
What’s gonna happen to the polar bears?