A tribute to Bob Ross, For Mike

I told my kindergarten teacher my brother found me in a ditch and when I was in second grade,
I wrote a note to Mrs. Campbell, advising, “I am wearing a bra.”
I pinched Kashika on the afternoon 4-84 school bus later that same year; and
I let 7 caught toads tire themselves and drown in my father’s 5-gallon bucket.
In 1994 I let our rabbit, Snow White, burn up in the Texas heat with no water in her bowl.
I went on to lie about sneaking in a boy thru my bedroom window; and
I cheated in all college history classes. For the later part of 1999
I made my father feel like a stranger and I called my mother a “bitch” in 2003.

“Happy accidents,” I whisper as Bob Ross glides across the screen in 2020.
He smiles through the LED and tells me not to worry: “It looks like nothing now…but just you wait.”

C. Cimmone runs Versification and can be followed on Twitter @diefunnier.