HE JUMPED

The boy was achingly young

& so very sad...

When he "fell" from a bridge in the heart of the South.

But the boy who plunged into that cool killing water

was not the boy of 3 nights before:

the boy who knew no doubt, confusion,

self hatred, or rejection;

nor the warm wirlwind acceptance of

the boy who had held him.

The boy's skin had been like spice...

                                             like candy...

                                             like rain water...

                                             like the sun.

His mouth had been a liquor

that had quenched his thirst time & again...

                                                              & again...

                                                              & again.

But

Something about him being a boy -

Something his life until then would destroy -

Something that woke him from that night of wonder -

Something he feared...

Something he never would dare understand -

That dread reprimand -

That the something he dreamed of would dare to be so soft...

Something it triggered...

Something he figured would be worse than his death -

So it was

he jumped off.