As I sit in the play area

Of a well-known kids restaurant

I  watch five boys including mine

Monopolize the plastic ball concoction

Boys are born with a male dominance

Unlike any other they are a breed all their own

Very unique and wonderful

The moms I sit next to

Are strangers to me?

Yet in some ways we are the same

I catch a few moments

Of subconscious reinforcement

As I hear the phrases

I myself have repeated

Over the last three years

Echoing in my ears

By unfamiliar voices

They reprimand their boys

In the same way

These phrases are drilled

Day after day into their

Subconscious mind

The consequences might be

A boy that is limited

By rules and regulations

Leaving feelings of inadequacy

We must not try so hard

To make them conform

To a mothers temperament

Boys need freedom to grow

To release an abundance of energy

Create imaginary friends

And engage in hostile confrontations

The moms in my presence

Were totally oblivious

To the awareness I attained

That day in the play area

In parenting,  I must incorporate

More freedom,  less stipulations

So my boy won't be

A cookie-cutter of the others

Maybe he will possess

Strength and a self-reliance

Unattainable too many

.....Untouchable by others.