What Does It Mean To Be First

I won 1st place in the school oratorical contest I got to say my poem in front of the whole school and they gave me a medal I was proud that I was 1st But he never told me. Where was his medal? When I found out, I told everyone and waited for the parade to begin. Mother (who made much ado over my medal) said, “Oh, really? I'm not surprised. Do you know he left breadcrumbs all over the floor yesterday? Didn't even clean them up!” I was confused. Do icons have to clean up breadcrumbs? But he never told me. “We just dug a lot of trenches for the ammo dump.” He winked as he said the Marines kept him safe just for me. He did tell me about "friendly" fire from White boys standing over them as they dug ditches but White men are always shooting at Black men - so I thought little of it. As I rode his knee he used funny words like Guam and Guadalcanal and he taught me to sing, "from the Halls of Mon-te-zu-u-ma to the shores of Trip-po-lee . . ." But never said he was the first to sing it. He said, “We trained at Camp LeJune”, but never mentioned Montford Point. As he tied his shoe he said he was a bit too young to be there. “But I wanted to choose the Corps so I volunteered.” When I had lived enough to navigate the oceans between Camp LeJune and Montford Point - I asked, “Dad, Do you know what you did? You never told me.” Struggling to share memories clogged by clouds of time he chuckled. “Yep, we were some of the first but I just didn't think nothin' about it. It was just one of those things.” Now I know what it means to be first. Miss out on medals and parades - and think nothin' of 'em. A silent machete carving ways through colored lines . . . As we wiggle with impatience in our snow pants while they bundle us up for the cold and put on our mittens.