<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body dir="auto"><div><span></span></div><div>Bedecked<div> </div><div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">Tell me it's wrong the
scarlet nails my son sports or the toy<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">store rings he clusters four
jewels to each finger.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">He's bedecked. I see the
other mothers looking at the star<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">choker, the rhinestone strand
he fastens over a sock.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">Sometimes I help him find
sparkle clip-ons when he says<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">sticker earrings look too
fake.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">Tell me I should teach him
it's wrong to love the glitter that a<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">boy's only a boy who'd love a
truck with a remote that revs,<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">battery slamming into corners
or Hot Wheels loop-de-looping<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">off tracks into the tub.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">Then tell me it's
fine—really—maybe even a good thing—a boy<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">who's still got some girl to
him,<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">and I'm right for the days he
wears a pink shirt on the seesaw in<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">the park.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">Tell me what you need to tell
me but keep far away from my son<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">who still loves a beautiful
thing not for what it means—<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">this way or that—but for the
way facets set off prisms and<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">prisms spin up everywhere<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">and from his own jeweled body
he's cast rainbows—made every<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">shining true color.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">Now try to tell me—man or
woman—your heart was ever once<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">that brave.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal"> - Virginia Redel<font class="Apple-style-span" size="3"><o:p></o:p></font></div>
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