Dark Vapor

Unsuccessful but enlightened – a good man, And here I am… his biggest fan, He had shoved life into his backpack till the back straps broke, And then carried it like a briefcase, a determined man - no joke, But a dark vapor came, And the man changed, Deranged, And here I am… his biggest fan, He splashed his thoughts on white walls with his wrists, Clenched fists in an airtight chamber, Red ink pens to white paper, He’d told me there was no feeling greater, A dark vapor, An ice-cream cone in a child’s hand, Small bleached bones buried in sand, And here I am… his biggest fan. And as all good things must come to an end, So too did my greatest friend, Electric pulses ran down the length of him and then repeated, A fire in his veins that left him defeated, A dark vapor, And I still am his biggest fan, Because I too have painted my life in red ink on white walls, And I too have buried bones in the sand as anyone can, And I have no reason to be frightened, Because I will be remembered as “unsuccessful but enlightened – a good man”, I am not afraid to breathe in the dark vapor. And he was right; there is no feeling greater.