Flashes Of Joy

Moments Stolen From Prison

I met him on the transport bus. 
We were always in the very back. 

With all the other bad kids. 
Fun, if you ask me. 

Back where the guard couldn’t see. 
We stole from each other…

Little fistfuls of intimacy. 
Strange eyes locking tight. 

Giggling together 
When we caught flight. 

Or the softest scratches—goosebumps!
And his eyes filled with light. 



I wish I had more to say. 
I lost him along the way. 

I was waiting where 
He was rumored to show..

He died a block from me
—so fucking close. 

Same neighborhood. 
Two worlds apart. 

And well.. he’s gone. 
And I guess I make art. 



But his eyes were the brightest. 
His jokes were the wryest. 

And you could ask me…
But, I’m totally biased. 

He had everything—
He was my every dream. 

But I let love slip away. 
I grew up in decay. 

I didn’t know how to save..
Even myself. 

I mean I had a guess. 
I guess, we all do. 

But, the certainty it takes
It was gone in me, too. 

So I trusted he’d fall 
If he needed he’d call. 

I really never saw—
Another option at all.  



And now I refuse mistakes. 
I don’t play any games. 

I do what it takes. 
In honor of his name. 

The one I can never..
Bring myself to say. 

Because his eyes were so alive. 
The most striking—electrified. 

When he shook them I almost died. 
A shared trait had us mesmorized. 

I’d never felt so comfortable
Being memorized. 



His jokes, laughs, touch
Lasted through the years. 

Such crude joy always
Found willing ears. 

And if I’m honest
It was demanded from his peers. 

He just had such a way
Of shattering mirrors. 

Even while we got drug 
Through the gears. 

He took and gave me
So many tears. 

I still hold absolutely 
ALL of them dear. 

I just wish he were still here. 

So I could read him these lines. 

And hear a joke from those sky blue eyes. 


Just one more time.