The first day we arrived
you gave us all a piece of faded yellow rope
"Keep this on your person at all times"

Day in, day out

Alpine butterfly
(Secure the canoe so it won't fall off the trailer)
Reef, figure eight
(Simple stuff, multipurpose; the kids do this)
Sheet bend
(Connect two ropes with different diameters)
Double fisherman
(Kept it around my ankle so it wouldn't get lost)

But thank god
That the last knot I tied
Before I left
Was the one I was best at

Bowline
(Attached my heart to the sailing docks)

The blood spilling from my torso
Is composed of many things
Maybe not leukocytes, erythrocytes,
Fibrinogen, or plasma

but

Fear
for the future

Regret
for what might have been

Sadness
for dear friends in pain

Pride
in a long journey and hard work

But if I am shot again tomorrow
What will it be made of then?

It's been five years
Since I first saw you
Goofing around
with your two best friends
By the basketball net.
At that time
All I knew was:
You had a nice laugh
A charming smile
And that she loved you.
I don't know
If she ever told you
But I haven't seen her since.

I've always been the lucky one
My life was never changed for the worse by fate
Only for the better

I was not the one in the boat when it hit the rock amongst the rapids

I was not the forest floor being burned by the flames

I was not the one who fell from my grace during the cool mornings

I was not the one whose clothes were covered in ***** and mind ablur

But my fate is no longer in my hands,
And I don't know what I would do
If I could never again have the opportunity
to make those mistakes