You were a Renaissance.
At one point they even called you the future.
I could see you as one of the Wright Brothers’ planes
that never took off;
the burning Library of Alexandria.
All I wanted was your knowledge;
your excellence.
To sit by your side and know
I’d made the right choice.
You must have seen something that changed you forever:
A Revolutionary War cannon
A Union battle flag.
You are not a failure.
Your body is not a war zone
And it is okay to hold me. I am not a grenade.
I will not explode.
(A water cannon
a picket sign
a picket fence)
I wanted you like I wanted spring to come.
I nearly froze to death.
(you’re a
butterfly
a hot slide
a nail in my foot
tetanus shot
sunburn
heatstroke
bee sting)
I put you in my mouth
like a child who doesn’t know any better yet
and you never complained
(why didn’t you tell me about the plane crash
why didn’t you tell me my dog died
why didn’t you tell me I was sick?)
You never complained.
(you were too young
You were too young
You were too young)
You wanted me to keep believing I’d found a hero.
(daddy what’s the purple heart
where’s Iraq
why did we enter World War II
what’s a lynching?)
I found a martyr.
(what’s ****
what are nuclear weapons
why do people smoke if they know it causes cancer
what’s depression?
what’s aids?
what’s propofol?
what’s *******?
do you think O.J. did it?)
I found a way of escape.
(What’s love?)