him

"Don't tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass."
-Anton Chekhov

Wrote off that quote for a chance at being published in a school publication. I think I like it, but I've read it over so much I've grown to just criticize it, but either way, here it is:

he's the burning atheist

that hides his daily pleads (prayers?)

in eleven:eleven wishes and

in held breaths

as he drives through that daily tunnel towards the ocean

he's the dreamer

ignoring whizzing comets,

toasting to the earthworms,

lying in the dirt and watching others

who have lived the dream

just to reinforce that he might never get there

(that sensation of

scalding water feeling cold

after that rush of intense warmth)

he's the man who spends

half hours on stationary bikes

in the disinfectant-bleached air of

that university gym

even though he can't ride a real one

because he loves the abandon of pedaling

and pedaling

running from the world behind him

and maybe that's what freedom is

and maybe he's just scared of freedom