My Dark Places

II

THE KID IN THE PICTURE

You fooled people. You gave yourself out in small increments and reinvented yourself at whim. Your secret ways nullified the means to mark your death with vengeance.

I thought I knew you. I passed my childish hatred off as intimate knowledge. I never mourned you. I assailed your memory.

You fronted a stern rectitude. You cut it loose on Saturday nights. Your brief reconciliations drove you chaotic.

I won’t define you that way. I won’t give up your secrets so cheaply. I want to learn where you buried your love.