The White Pumpkin

The White Pumpkin A farmer tends his field Vines grow and wrap around each other Giant white flowers bloom in the heat of summer Butterflies and bees dance from flower to flower Spreading the pollen from male to female Inseminating to create the next generation Weeks later the children arrive They laugh and giggle as they run among the orange pumpkins Each one takes their favorite home for carving or pie One pumpkin is born small, oddly shaped with a white skin It sits alone by the wooden fence as the rest are taken The day before Halloween one child comes for a visit Out of the dozens of pumpkins still waiting the child chose the small white one His parents point out all the beauty around him The child doesn’t change his mind or his heart He spoke of the one he wanted “This one is like me,” he said as he lifted it into his wheelchair That was all that had to be said The white pumpkin was loved by a little boy A little boy who knew what it was like to be different He knew what it was like to be loved And now, so did that small, oddly shaped pumpkin with a white skin