His feet flew on the track
and he was a blur,
like the emotions always rushing
through his head, wave after wave
of crashing tunes, colorful and whole one instant,
then broken black and white
piano keys the next.

His heartbeat sounded for 16 years,
a deep, penetrating thump in his chest,
sometimes lively and high to the
rhythm of life's beat,
other times suddenly straining
in invisible, dark melancholy of
time's bitterness,
till one day, he decided
no more beat to play along to.

His being engulfed by a
liveliness so pure, his character
so strong, perhaps the cracks
in his drifting soul were
not visible to any being's eye,
perhaps in the contagious laughter
that had always been taken for granted,
there were perfectly hidden, but exposed
rains of nothingness
and sorrowful, wailing cries.

Witty remarks, blissful ignorant jokes,
an easy grin to light up an underground city's sky,
there was definitely warmth
in his hands, color in his cheeks,
blood flowing, eyes shining,
but then like a dark, looming shield,
sorrow overwhelmed it all,
because everything that he had,
suddenly
he could no longer see.

We saw his face, his smile,
every step he took towards us,
a growing, boy of life reaching out,
but how did we miss,
every single silent tear.

Heard him talk like he was born to,
heard his hearty, contagious laugh,
heard his footsteps heading
towards us,
but how did we miss,
the silent cries of help,
and all the steps backwards into
the dark, forbidding, night.

Felt him live, felt him
thrive, ran with him in the wind,
everything coursing through his veins,
but how did we miss,
the sudden urges of sadness,
the sudden urges of loneliness,
the sudden urges of agony
leading to a silent urge of emptiness.

We think about his smile
and look for it,
we hear his laugh, and listen
eagerly,
we feel his footsteps resounding
in the ground, sprinting towards
the finish line; we begin to cheer him on

but when we look up,

he's gone

the seat in front of me is now empty

today
tomorrow
the day after
in all the years to come

and the tears flow
and hearts beat with agony
and silent night cries

us who will always be
remembering him
who can't be forgotten,
remembering him
who can't be undone.