The Final Gamble

In the first you showed me Signs
Following me
Into the belly of madness
A dogged helper
A breath of young air
A good soul
A teenage champion
I showed you how to play poker
While we whiled away the time
Drinking too much coffee
Sharing inspirations,
Fears and comfort
Out at night
In the wild weekends of youth
Boyish mirth would, in passing, grin
We picnicked like a holiday
Your sandy hair
Shining like a beach
Flirting lightly
With passing beach belles
We went Nightswimming
The stars reflected
In the tiny, glowing
Creatures of the sea
Taken aback
At the strange
Natural phenomena
I proudly watched
As you swam far
Into the deep anyway
You would come
On dawdling afternoons
Telling of your troubles,
Doubts and joys
With God, university, women,
And life choices
Tentatively playing at adulthood
Like a young wild cub
Seeking jaded advice
From a world wounded soul
With a friendly jibe
Time and again
You pulled me out
Of my self imposed prison
Into the youthful sunlight
Of the Just Begun
So much Living to be done
We gambolled along the hillside
Among the summer crowd
And watched the fireworks
Blue and red and yellow
Exploded across the sky
Frightening demons
Reminding one to Live
I hear your heart was heavy
When you took
The Final Gamble
I was out of town
Too far to hear your trouble
You were out of town
I doubt any saw it coming
You were strong,
Young and hopeful
Always careful to avoid
Dark and ugly spaces
You were going places
When the heartless Machine
Grinded you to a halt
The grief being not your fault
A friend of Innocence
Now I pray the Angels
That touched our Living world
To carry you back Home
For you will always Be
Forever in the summer sun.

For Justin Rest in Peace July 2009
The poem doesn't do you justice.
Its just not right that you are gone.