I need my children to learn: a poem

I need my children to learn

that the place where I made them

the diminutive spot of earth

where they strained and slipped out of me

is insignificant,

and the most significant place of all

that they carry with them a privilege,

a gift,

the luckiest charm,

the greenest four-leaf clover

that their privilege should be worn heavily

that their arms should be open 

and their hearts full of love

that difference is to be celebrated not feared

that I am raising them fighters not cowards