Danny and the Rainbow Scarf

The boy in the rainbow scarf left Friday, but didn't come home Saturday. His mother cried when she couldn't find him, but had to hear from someone else. The boy in the rainbow scarf laughed and danced, but came out to a battlefield. The shadows tried to take the boy away. They kicked until he couldn't breathe. The smiles ache behind the broken face, the drugs don't let you see the sun-- so he keeps screaming until his eyes close. The boy in the rainbow scarf wasn't bad. He stayed out late and skipped his chores, like all of us, but he was a good boy. The shadows shouldn't take good boys. The shadows came in the night bright with stars, stars so bright you could see it all. The angels saw everything, but they choked on their words to tell his mother why her son was broken, bruised, and dying. The boy in the rainbow scarf didn't hurt anyone-- his heart is too big. He has more love than shadows know. Mother, five brothers, sister, father, niece, and more friends than Eden could hold. The shadows came and beat the boy senseless, broke his nose and fractured his skull; they made his face swell like withered violets while mother watched him lie in bed, but she can't tuck him in like she used to. The rainbow scarf is torn and patched. The boy in the rainbow scarf couldn't hurt anyone-- he just wanted love.