You're It, Africa - Naomi Hyba

Tag, you're it, I said,
tapping him on the elbow,
and for the next three years,
he was.

He had the biggest smile
I'd ever seen,
gleaming white and proud
like the Cheshire cat.
He was the only
black kid in our class.
I asked him where he was from,
everyone told me not to.

In music class he played the drums,
shaking his head and groovin' to the beat.
Everyone said he looked silly,
but I thought he looked like a rock star.

Tag, you're it, I said,
tapping his elbow,
and for the next three years,
he was.