flicker

“flicker”

the boy once moved in quicksilver brightness,
a restless shimmer of beginnings
that slipped through this man’s hands
before he knew he was losing him

he burned piping hot, in those early days,
all fire and forward motion
—now the heat is only memory,
he stirs a cooling ember
to remember he once glowed

life pulled him sideways,
a quiet rip curl dragging him
from shore he once meant to follow
—the boy inside him swallowed
without a single cry for help

now he wades billabongs of memory,
still waters steeped in spectres
of who he used to be
—whose reflection ripples,
and the boy disappears again
before he can call him back

.