harnessing

they have harnessed my son
strapped him tight
a fiberglass corset
from shoulder to hip

they say it is scoliosis
his young spine curving
growing too fast
like his wise mind

22 hours a day they say
to make it grow straight
to make the muscles let go
to hold him on an even plane

but I have other suspicions
that this is an alien plot
draining his life forces
capturing his teenage powers

for I remember years ago
carrying my baby son into the moonlight
wrapping my arms tightly around him
and feeling the strength of kings 


		© Chuck Beals December 1999