April Penn

Photo by Su Red

The Trouble of Mentoring

"No. No.
I just don't care like that."
He replies after I ask
if he'd ever volunteer to be a mentor
in the Big Brothers Big Sisters program.
The case managers say the organization
has trouble finding male mentors.
There are so many boys without:
Jason
Nayvon
Emmanuel
Brandon
Antoine
Kyle...

Little girls get matched much faster:
Carmelita
Skye
Iris... They leap off of the list,
skipping into the next chapter,
eagerly drawing hearts.
But what of this man's?
What fist of shrapnel taught him
only pedophiles care too much?
Was his coldness the way I shiver
before answering the door alone?