i watched
as he stumbled
unsure
what was happening
it seemed
he grappled
with spirits
beyond the scope
of my reckoning

then he fell
his head
striking
the concrete
his scalp
cracking
like an eggshell
i watched
the lines
race over his face
frozen in fear
before the first
piece of porcelain
fell
unleashing
a prismatic torrent
to run
down the dirty sidewalk
towards my
impatient feet

i was swept away
in this sudden
flood of
a lifetime of accumulated scars
in liquid remembrance
reliving
for the first time
these long buried slights
each a stone
that slowly
weighed on
the poor bastard’s mind
until he
finally broke

while i
pretended
i didn’t feel
the crack
running up
the side of my skull