(Autobiographical)
One summer day some local kids were treating me like a freak.
Later that day I set fire to the long dry grass growing along Scott creek.
My twin brother and his best friend watched as I lit the grass on fire
so I told them if they told on me my need for revenge would never tire.
The damn fire spread so fast that we had to rush to put the it out
So in the stream our jackets went then we swung them all about.
By the time we put the fire out it had spread for approximately 20 feet
So I decided that if or when I lit a fire again I’d bring along a wet sheet.
Then one night I was so bored that I decided to hang out at the school.
That place where all the kids in my class would treat me like a fool.
I made a Molotov cocktail with a jar and some gas that I’d “borrowed”
Then I threw it against the school wall just to see the bomb explode.
The fire burned hot and colourful against the school’s wall of cement
When the book I’d read said to be careful I now knew what it meant.
On the way to school there was a highway with a long tall overpass
We crossed that highway every day when going to or leaving class.
Some days I would do a handstand on the top railing of the overpass
just to feel anything other than the constant fear of others beating my ass.
At 12 years old I didn’t fear death because I honestly couldn’t believe
that death could be any worse for me than the abuse I’d daily receive.
There are so many bad things that I used to do when I was just 12 years old
but there’s just too many for this poem so for now they’ll remain untold.
©ronvdm777
Nov 2019
©ronvdm777
R