As a child I
Wasn’t a player but I crushed a lot
Chased girls around the playground and tried to kiss them a lot (cooties!)
Got in trouble a lot
I wish someone had known
That might’ve meant I was poly
And helped me begin earlier on the path of understanding how I love
As a child I
Wasn’t a climber but I climbed a lot
All over the couches and countertops
All over the boulders and trees we found on hikes
I wish someone had had the presence of mind
To take me to a climbing gym
Who knows how high I’d have climbed!
As a child I
Struggled with my own violent fury
Tantrums turned into holes in walls and doors
I learned to repair drywall
And worked off my debts to pay for broken things
Good thing I wasn’t burlier
I wish someone had taught me to channel it earlier
Given me other avenues to exploit
Who knows how much damage I could’ve avoided?
As a child I
Wasn’t a breakout soccer star, but I played a lot
Loved the sport with all my heart
Despite a natural ability for tennis
My heart just wasn’t in it
For a while I was even more into basketball
Told my mom I wanted to go pro
And she gently let me down because I was such a small kid
Today at 30 years and 6’1”, in the best shape of my life and feeling stronger every year,
I wish someone had seen my potential
And thought to encourage me tenfold
Who knows where I would be playing?
As a child I
Wasn’t an artistic prodigy, but my friends & I loved to draw comics
and I drew the layout lines that gave our stories boundaries in which to develop,
wrote the words that gave our characters their voices.
And I wish someone had seen it
Helped us turn our scrap papers into published pieces
Who knows where we could’ve gotten?
As a child I
Wasn’t a lemonade stand kinda guy
But I always had entrepreneurial ideas
From JC Studios to The French Times
I naturally gravitated toward … doing my thing
And I wish someone had seen
The young entrepreneur in the making
And thought to put me around more kids like me
Really invest in me, my first angel & seed
Who knows how much further I could be?
As a teen I
Still wasn’t a player at all, but I still crushed a lot
I gazed longingly at cute girls a lot
Deaf to everything but my beating heart
Hopeless romantic down to my core
The only way I wanted to score
Was to hang out in the living room with all our friends
Well, and some stuff just us…
And!
I had several chances to share a first kiss
But froze in my tracks nearly every time
I wish someone had had the presence of mind
To tell me:
“If you see that look in her eyes, I promise you—just kiss her”
I wish I’d had someone to show me what beautiful relationships were budding right in front of me
Looking back,
I see all these opportunities
To bring young Jérémy into harmony with himself
To hold space for his shadows
Invest in his passions
And I think to myself,
“I’ll know better with my kids,
I’ll do better for my kids…”
But deep down, I know:
I will make my own mistakes
I will miss chances with my kids, teachable moments, opportunities to propel them forward in their interests
No parent is perfect
And mine are pretty great
As a child I
Had a natural talent for languages
My mother tongue is French
And thanks to my mother’s relentless devotion to putting me through private French classes
I became completely fluent with no accent
And even taught it for a while
At the school I grew up in
Thanks to my mom for pushing me,
My dad for traveling with me back to our country,
I am exactly where I want to be with my French mastery.
Now, as a man,
I tell my inner child:
everything is okay
we chose to incarnate this way
To learn the lessons and write these poems
I know in every atom: I am home.