For a friend

Who got lost in a war

And never seemed

To find his way home

Again

 

For an innocence

That he wore as a cloak

Until it was ripped

From his shoulders

And left to burn

Who never talked much

Until I cracked him open

And peered inside

And saw his colors

Bursting, twirling,

Beautiful beautiful beautiful

 

A smile that was

Seldom given away

But seldom fake

And always

Beautiful beautiful beautiful

 

Who first introduced himself

Without flashing lights

Or a decent conversation

Just a name

Plain and simple

Just his name

 

Who was there

The next week

Same place, same time

And all he said was

It’s nice to see you again

Plain and simple

 

But with time

He grew

And so did I

Next thing you know

He’s my brother

Who was there for deep talks at coffee shops

And late night drives

And words of wisdom

Through telephone lines

Beautiful beautiful beautiful

 

Who everyone thought

Had a heart of gold

But no one could touch it

Except me

When I got close

And held his heart

Which wasn’t made of gold, but something warmer than that

And I held it to the sky

For the world to see

And maybe that scared him,

But his heart just kept

Beating beating beating

 

Until the day it stopped

Turned cold

And bit at the hands of whoever got near

And the world took their golden boy

The boy who stood taller than the clouds

And made the room around him

Melt into a puddle of glorious peace

They took their golden boy

And left him in the waves

To drown

Drowning

Drowned

 

Who never fought back

As they kept

Beating

Hitting

Beating

Who stayed silent as they spilled his blood

And broke his bones

And burned his

Beautiful beautiful beautiful

Cloak of innocence

All because he was a boy

And he liked a boy

 

Who

The next time I tried to cradle his heart

Flinched away

And pretended he couldn’t hear me

Pleading

Crying

Please come back

 

Who claims he left for college

But I can still see him

Running

Running

Running

 

Who got lost in a war

All guns turned on him

And kept his head high

With a smile that has become

Often fake

But always

Beautiful beautiful beautiful

 

Who will continue to be

The boy who could make music out of shadow puppets

Magic out of a thunderstorm

And fairies out of 4th of July sparklers

Beautiful beautiful beautiful

Until he-

My perfect

Strong

Wise

Friend-

Finds his way home

Again