Black Light

Black Light 7/23/2012

It was a month ago
That I got the news
About the wounding
And the blood.

My oldest son
Now knows more
More than he should
At only twenty one.

He lives far away
And he has felt the sting
Of a bullet to the middle
In a bizarre twist of fate.

A victim of a strange mistake
And a tragic miscommunication
Far away from my voice
But close to my heart.

Injured by another
Who did not think it through
Thanksfully not a lunatic
On his way
Off the end.

The cut off his clothes
The blood soaked shirt
And splattered trouser
To cut him open
And appraise the wounds.

A split seconds decision
Is all that it takes
Between the easy and the hard way
As much as life and death

Bullet wounds heal
From the inside out
Slowly closing up
As the infection drains.

A long time to remember
What no man can forget
Even though the pain is gone
The scars remain.

A dent remains
Where the bullet hit the ribs
A strange reminder
About an inch from death.

He is me
And I am him
Blood of my blood
And half my DNA.

The curse lives on
Without conscience
Or remorse
And untold is the suffering
Unspoken and unknown.

I pray for him
Both night and day
My first born son
First of my heart
And first of my life.

So much alike
I gave him my name
Cursed from the beginning
For being mine
And being the same.

But he lives
And so do I
So the fight goes on
For another hour
And another day.

He too has learned
What it means to learn
To suffer unfairly
And survive anyway.

I pray that he
Will take this to heart
To take the curse
And turn it upside down.

To ride out the hardship
And become a better man
Emerging stronger than ever
And better than before.


It didn’t happen overnight
The total transformation
Of my spirit
Renewing itself by small degrees
From the
And the inside out.