My Pajamas

You know  

The question all adults

want to know

but never do

They stare at my gangly limbs

restless twitching

as I curl up

wherever

the sun

shines

I answer  - a ballerina

as I touch my head

with my toes

I answer -  a doctor

as my curious notions

roll on the floor

like spilled sugar pills

then I answer a nun

oh the look 

on my 

crewcut

cussing

mother

she lit another

cigarette

took a deep drag

her mind flaming

 to the drunken

catholic priest

and

the curse he proclaimed

Silenced

She exhaled

smoke and apprehension

swirling around 

my narrow

face

But my most honest

answer

one I give to this day

is my very first

My father perched 

on the wooden front porch

drinking a schlitz

and watching me

watching me 

swirl bright colored soaps

in the blue plastic pool

one late summer afternoon

on Bridge Street

My mother

watching us

from behind the screen door

So what do you want to be when you grow up?

This was as clear as the blue sky

as easy as the lilac-scented breeze

with all my four-year-old resolve 

I proclaim

"A Cat"

It has been decades and I have yet to change

my answer

NaPoWriMo 2019 Day 23

Based on the prompt to write a poem about an animal