End of His Rope

I saw a man at the end of his rope today.  It was on the I405 bridge

A bridge high above the city of lights and staying weird

There was a police car and a fire truck that inconvenienced our lives by slowing us down and forced us to merge right

I saw the man was on the ledge just past the sirens.

He was ready to let go of this place of lights

I could see him climb back towards the freeway over the ledge

He lifted his leg and his pants with the ends tugged into his boots, over  the abyss

With some struggle

I felt happy that he found his way back. 

When I passed the cop car to rubber neck like the rest of us lemmings, I caught a glimpse of his profile  

He was wearing a blue, puffy down jacket and a grey beanie cap with the ends rolled up 

He had a wiry beard and his face was weathered like a well used baseball catchers mitt  

His sad eyes were bearing down on the helping and caring fireman in front of him

Pleading eyes - searching for help

Distraught was the look I saw  

Sad.  No hope. 

Save me…fucking help and save me

He was at the end of his rope and it made me cry hidden tears

I don’t know if God is real. 

But I reached out with all my energy to hug him and give him a moment of peace and comfort

I prayed that the God would kiss his forehead and tell him it’s ok

I do that sometimes to people I feel deserve or need it

I don’t know if it works.  But I try anyway  

The mans silhouette will be forever etched in my mind