________  ________  ________   
   2022-04-26                                   /        \/        \/    /   \  
                                               /       __/         /_       _/ 
   When I was young                           /        _/         /         / 
   Barely into my teens                       \_______/_\___/____/\___/____/_
   A weapon exploded in my hands                /        \/        \/    /   \
   I thought at the time I knew what I was     /        _/         /_       _/
doing                                         /-        /        _/         /
   I sat a safe distance away                 \________/\________/\___/____/
   The low sun draping a long shadow across
my shoulders
   My breath steady but my heart racing
   That same sun bathing her in gold
   So perfect in that moment
   Wreathed in honey warm light
   I wrapped my hand over the muzzle of my weapon
   And, pulling the trigger, the barrel exploded
   And I was unconscious
   For weeks or days, years
   A lifetime
   Torn by weapon fragments as they spun past me
   Out of the shadow and into the light
   I caught one in my heart
   Which quickly scarred over
   Puckered and ugly
   But beneath the surface
   A pearl I'll carry with me forever



EOF