He laughed boy-laugh
at Her ******
Her chin was high
when she hit
the water

There is no bottom to "the drop"
there is wind
as you fall
and
time
slows
while
Your past grows
in the wind
and
time
so
enjoy the ride

She was a pale direction
I had foolishly taken
One mistaken hollow night
on a backward road
(one of many)
One mistaken turn
A downhill flight
with both eyes squeezed
narrowly open

She was a wan point
I had drifted towards
offering me dumb luck
and succor
(a sucker's lean)
All tall and mean
and dangling
Lost promise
In a slit-to-the-wish-bone dress

She was a pit-bull in *******
straining at her chain
and I was the last
worried and weak link
(she was fast)
She grabbed me by
my heart-pant leg
and yanked me
down sweetly down

I hated her
as hard as
she loved seeing me fall
(I could hear)
thin brushes on snares
and a deep rumble
(her laughter)
or a stand-up bass?

She was a pale direction
and I had
nowhere else
to go.

Icky things
with legs and wings
and oh! too many eyes!
Things what hide in shadow
spinning webs
and eating flies.
Little flying cobbies
(They are not there in the book
of insect or arachnid
though I often look and look...)
They were just too sneaky
to get written down
I s'poze...
Still I know they're
down there creeping
up onto my toes!

I was seven.
The sidewalk lured.
The Huffy beckoned.
The hill...
The hill...
Skinny locomotive legs
Pumping madness blindness happy
Freedom flight pumping pumping
The hill...
The hill...
Baseball cards in spokes were roaring
Soaring wheels and squinting windy
Boymachine thrumming heavy
The hill...
The hill...
Swerving Fords and Chevys curving
Hopping curbs and doggie-dodging
Lightspeed hoping
Seven and no sign of stopping
Hit the rock...

Funny how it all got slow, now
Boy/machine were separated
One went one way one the other
Gravity
The enemy

His death did not surprise me
As old men go he went quite well
Happy
After his bride of oh those long years
His final moments were torrid
Reaching out for Her
Hoping she was there

I cried then as I often do still
For his eyes can cry no longer
Happy
His longyear in my soul
His final moments my hope
That past this mudded breath
She is there.

We found comfort in His hand
Solace in His song
a small one-note
the final note...
We found Joy in His dance
Rhythm in His stillness
a quaint quiet
a final peace...
We found Happiness attended
Balance in His whisper
a small movement
a final step...
We, who were once of mud
And breath
And need
Are freed
From those confines
From that war...
The Hero Peris saved us
By His sword
Swift
A final kiss.