Now & Then

 Naked save for cowboy boots, a BB gun and gasoline, The boy does not seek out trouble, just the experience. 

Impish and carefree, he pushes through life, takes it in, breathes it, like the very air that fills his lungs. 

The boy ages and life begins its march to overtake. There’s fear that seeps in, like afternoon shadows on sidewalks. Doubt splashes against the boy’s mischievous, yet tender, soul - with hesitation, sick waves of trembled black indecision. 

A life so near to him is snuffed out too early, A moment where all his heart's hope would be lost. The man retreats into himself to seek the answers, and finds the strength at moment’s end to grasp salvation.

 The man remains imperfect, and still searches for meaning, But with the single-mindedness intent to make up for time lost. 

And there are days, sunny and golden, when he conjures up the boy, the impish one, the one full of joyous tomfoolery.