Fire and Ice

Fire and Ice
my body is cold,
face hot with fear,
“Please don’t stop; keep going.”

The black messenger coming up the street,
stops at the driveway.
The Chaplin, head bowed
imagining a better place
anywhere but here,
is trudging
up the steps

Doorbell ringing
bring to thoughts I dare not speak
“Where is he?”
“What happened?

“Fool, nothing happened.
We made plans.
He’s going to teach his son to be a man.
No, nothing happened,
Fool we made plans.”

He promised, words echo through my mind

He promised everything would be fine.

Shaky hands open the door
Loud voices of harsh languages
I have yet to understand
“There was a chase.”
“He had a gun.”

Photo by Arthur White on Unsplash

I guess Saint Pete needed
another hero to patrol
Heaven’s streets.