Invisible evil
That takes a thousand faces.
Beat him down to grains
And scattered all his dreams
Like ashes.
Once young,
Unbound,
In love.
He was a poor boy
Just hoping.

He grew to a young man,
The light he saw
In his dark life still glowing.
The home he left behind
Was a childhood
Soon forgotten.
The freedom he had earned 
He took into his hands readily.
He was packed before graduation,
Left before congratulations,
Searching for a place to stay,
Finding a job unworthy of
Twelve grades pay,
And renting an apartment.

Subway packed with
A hundred strangers,
But he knew what beauty looked like
The first time that he saw it.
She was beautiful,
Glowing,
An aura surrounding.
To her,
Him invisible,
But him,
Her incredible.

Many days,
Gazing from afar.
His lovesick eyes
Lingered a beat too long
Each ride that 
They both attended.
Finally, his courage plucked,
He feet unwillingly obeying,
He walked.
Closer,
Closer,
Aphrodite’s beauty tugged him.
Yet still,
As if by fate’s calling,
The doors opened,
And she disappeared.
Perhaps, as he would wonder later,
To fate he should have listened.

He wore a suit on the subway
To ride the next day,
Cheaply bought,
Ill fitting.
But still, a suit was better 
Than a backwards cap,
And short cut sleeves
With tattoos showing.
Her eyes were more brilliant
From the distance at which he stood
Once he approached her.
The first words he uttered,
Almost stuttered,
“I think that I’m in love with you.”
Perhaps the force at which he came on
Dissuade her,
Or his ill fitting suit,
Or perhaps it was neither.
Whatever the reason,
She took one look, 
And said four fateful words.
“You’re not my type.” 

He found himself above the world,
Having given his heart,
And been rejected.
He found himself alone,
With a house,
But not a home.
He found himself wondering 
If maybe flight 
Would be a fond last memory.
And then he jumped.