Communist Bears and Magic Rings

What TV shows did you watch as a kid?

When I was a kid
I watched a television show
about communist bears
that lived in the clouds.

their fur seemed to come
in every color.

and all they wanted
was for everyone
to be kind,
to care.

I remember one program
about a superhero
who fought pollution,

summoned by children
with magic rings.

children just like me
standing up to corporations
that were choking the sky

with smog.

alongside a hero
born of their own strength
and heart.

on another,
there were puppets
that lived on a street
I would never visit,

yet somehow
it still felt
like home.

I learned my ABCs
and how to share,

how to love myself
and my community

from the songs
of cheerful monsters.

that’s what radicalized me.

every saturday morning
between sweet bites of cereal
I learned:

Love is a verb.