The Reckless One

Five p.m. on a white winter night, 1975
The blue boy was walking home all alone
He chose to stay after school that day
Hands huddled in his pocket
There was a hole in his hood
Where the heat leaked out
Maybe the snow had come to show
The blue boy was not yet a man

The reckless one rode by
The fire in his eyes melting the snow
He slowed his car to a stop
And told the sweet stranger to hop in
The stranger wished for the will to protest
But the freezing breeze bit and screamed
So he slipped into the car with a smile

The wrongful waitress spied like a snake
As the handsome one spoke in a warm whisper
And the meek mouse laughed
Though he continued to shake
She furrowed, she frowned
And when she brought them their food
Their feet brushed under the table
A stolen touch was good enough

They could not be alone at school
They could not be alone at home
So they drove to the football field
At the quiet hour of midnight
They interlocked their hands
And cocked their heads to the stars
Peaceful silence filled the empty field
The reckless one broke that silence
And spoke so sincerely
“I love you
I hope you know that
You deserve to know that someone does”
And the blue boy was no longer blue
But a light lilac
He did not need to say I love you back
Because the silence said it for him