I knew them all;
boys really, but
factors nonetheless;
we never talked
about our parents;
what was to say
except that we
were free to be
the crazy people
we really were

I thought I was
just getting started,
but instead
everything I
needed to happen,
happened and I
can only think
of one professors
common name
because he told
me I wouldn’t

I never read
another man’s
thoughts; I only
wanted facts;
I listened to songs
because that was
the heart speaking;
but I didn’t have
the nerve to follow|
what they were
saying, so I only
tell you now

Is reality believing
or not believing; is
it a feeling or having
the nerve to ask
why he made
people who never
had a chance
while others were
born to mock them

It starts without any
allegiance except
to truth and love;
and to anyone,
because what we
must forget
is why we hate
someone we do
not know

Am I to believe
that what a friend
once said when we
were too young to
care guides the
light I thought I
saw when I read
that he died?

What is so normal
about not being
able to love like
a dog? I thought
about trying to
be what you
wanted but you
wanted me even
though I wasn’t
what you wanted

I could talk
about love but
where is it? Is
it too soon to
say that what
I once knew is
all I will know?
I could go about
things one way
or the other
but which way?