A Cry in the Dark

A Cry in the Dark
By Jenna Hart

he would pretend
but the boy saw everything.
the words always went beyond the walls he tried to build with his fingers.
they were like sparks
burning them down with their intensity,
images that only grew stronger when he tired to shut them out
darkness was a friend
but also an enemy left at the mercy of his own imagining
the clear blue was the only calm among the violence,
silence only found when he was wrapped around by it
the little boat was his secret,
the form his heart took outside of his body
with all his might he was destined to protest it
tiny fists all he knew to offer
so fragile
a small gust of wind would…
knock it into a million pieces
shattered across the grass, like shards of glass waiting for someone to step on

but in the water there was hope
a reflection of his own world
but like every mirror, one difference,
peaceful because of the backwards promise it held
instead of cruelty there’d be kindness
rolling all around
endless in each direction one chose to look
it was his but he did not know the way

one day
running
running
no more!
this time he would have to make it
no time even for the boat to take him to the middle of the lake
only a leap
and then, water all around
down
down
endlessly spiraling like a dance before the last bow
his last breath drawn
but with it, he was free!