lace mermaid wedding dress

For Our Gary

Gary, Jon, Dave, Chuck and I,
played tackle football every Sunday
for almost ten years straight.
No equipment, shirtless, barefoot
on the frozen church fields.
Our muscles rippling,
before the collar bones shattered,
before the ankles gave way and cracked in two.
We’d drink whiskey on the sidelines
before and after the games,
smoked cigarettes,
tasted our blood like it was some elixir
made just for boys.
Who had no idea what the world
held in its huge palms for us.
Gary, Jon, Dave, Chuck, and I,
we ran the summer nights
dewy heat running down our backs.
Before the wives, before the jobs,
those long and beautiful days
we were sure would be the death of us.
All us boys who’d lay in bed
on hot summer nights
storming the castle walls of our dreams,
swinging from trees, super hero’s,
ninjas in our brand new bodies.
Some Invisible girl always watching us
over on the sidelines,
as we crashed against each other,
beat our chests, banged our heads together.
Wanting to show the world we could.
Before the pounds appeared like rain
on our perfect bodies.
Before our parents passed on.
The anger of them, the blessings of them,
the tears, the parting, all the things
we thought we’d never do.
Not us, not us, these crazy, bloody boys,
afraid of nothing, not anything.
Knowing nothing of goodbyes,
or faith, and loving someone thick as thieves.
And true friends, and gatherings,
and toasts, and remembering every single thing. lace mermaid wedding dress
We knew nothing really, nothing,
Of what we’d love and what we miss so much.

Billy Lee