On the Tenth Anniversary of Mike's Murder -- Dasher Word Challenge (word = murder), 1-14-09

RIP Michael Crosby

9-20-1979 to 12-31-1999

1-14-10

On the 10th Anniversay of Mike's Murder

one instant

that's all it takes

then

like when a dam breaks

suddenly

everything changes

the water rushes in

and you grasp at the littlest things

just to keep air in your feeble lungs

oh god

i can smell the stench of

a waste sanitation plant

and see its barren terrain

i remember

standing on the exact spot

where you lay

bleeding

breathing

that one last garbled desperate breath

i know they say death is instant

when someone is murdered execution-style

but that "instant" can last forever

can haunt and wound and fester

years later

when we gasp for breath

as sudden tears spring to our eyes

when certain songs come on the radio

and we pull our cars to the side of the road

collapse on the steering wheel

grieving not for our own stupid pain

but for what you could have been

oh, mike

you were a fucking star

you lit me up

whether with joy or the giggles or fury

you never failed to make an impact

and now

ten years later

all i can do

is remember you with love and admiration

and hope that there's something more than this earthly existence

for you, my friend, my brother,

were the best of the best,

you belong in a heaven filled with blunts and busty babes

and beats that get the booty shakin'.

and i see you there,

your demons finally ceasing to exist.

your face lit with that smile no girl could resist.

you're a star, mike,

bright in the inky night sky,

showering us with your undeniable light,

and bullets will never extinquish you.

copyright 2010 Katherine Andrews