A laugh
A grunt
A growl
A sneer
A young man yells,
"You nasty queer!"
A flying fist is all I see
a spurt of blood comes out of me.
Too dark to see. No breath to yell
on cold concrete. What in gay hell?
My heart throbs in my blood drenched ears
my teeth clench down on tongue and tears.
I pray to be numbed by the freezing rain.
While channel surfing thoughts dance in my brain.
Christians, Republicans, Nazis, oh my!
Will they leave me here to die?
My So Called Life, Spin City, and Ellen
Fast forward through all my head is swelling.
Robert Stack announces my death
I click it off and restore my breath.
Action Nine can't hear about this
They're running off but one thing I didn't miss.
The wrist of one of them I happened to see
had a bracelet with 4 letter, WWJD.

05/21/2006

Author's Note: This is not one of mine, it belongs to an old friend from college named Neil (I refrain from using his last name for his protection, since I am reprinting this without his permission, and I do apologize). I have not seen this wonderful man in many years, and have no idea where he is or what he's doing... I heard rumors, and if they're true, my heart breaks for him. This experience actually happened to him, on our college campus - a private CHRISTIAN college campus. Nothing was ever accomplished in finding the fine, upstanding Christian boys who did that to him. Neil, I miss you. I miss ogling boys and comparing fingernail polish with you. I miss our theological discussions and the millions of outrageous conversations we had. I post your poem here, on my site, in honor of you. You were worth twenty of them.

Posted on 05/22/2006
Copyright © 2026 Jayme L Helmick