I Barely Knew Him
He shook with small blades of grass
for a millisecond,
like he was slow dancing
with a dream.
Our eyes locked
misty-white,
vacant.
When I got to him
a red-tinged hue of departure
had already taken him.
I pulled a tattered letter from his fingers,
the one he asked me to read before
fratricide cut him to his core.
His woman
moved like myth:
I decided I loved her.
I would find her,
to love her
like he did.
The night hovered cold again,
the distant clanking of disgruntled
bodies in C block fomenting fantasy,
flying through prison gates and landing
flush into tranquility.
I pulled the letter out again
and smelled the pen strokes.
I would dream like the others tonight.
I would fly too.