the bypass was strangled by
tiny knots in the road.
breathing was steady
but ready for attack.
i must have seen smoke
rising up from the hills.
in smoke appears signals
and bodies and old friends.
i saw the life form become human
in front of my naked eyes.
stood with needles and bruises, and his blemishes screamed “i’m tired of being alive.”
with bronze stained cuts
perched on his quivering lips.
i gazed up in shock, lost in
the unfamiliarity of his somehow soulless eyes.
but i heard bombs bursting
and doors breaking.
all of a sudden,
the dots were connecting.
the perplexity of this theory
stole my mind away for a minute.

and then, as if he was lightning,
he was gone.
the surrounding sounds become
numb lulls in the background.
i tried to process, but the thought
tore the inner walls inside of me down.


~he had felt this tingle of
dull memories creeping up into his fortified mind… shaky hands, and odd behavior, hold up, where am i? the world feels like it’s in slow motion, barely hanging on.. don’t know what hope is…he blacked out earlier that day, perhaps he didn’t know it? the intensity lit up in his distressed face… knowing, unknowing.. memories come flocking back like migrating birds…he lost the grip on his mind so long ago.. but when he had stood underneath the bridge, with stormy clouds in his eyes… i remembered him…and they could only ask me why.