You have to first take out your guts so that it has a place to go But then, what happens if it doesn’t grow? The bear gets stuck at cub the hollow stays, the bear claws air. Remember how you used to say “Hit me” when you knew you’d done something wrong? You’d flex your stomach so, you said, it wouldn’t hurt, You’d tell us, “Do it now.” There would be tears You’d tell my brother, be a man and you’d be smiling, buttons straining on your shirt Nadia Kalman is an NEA Literature g