(Gravel-kingdom-cul-de-sac.
Fall off the edge and never look back.)
It begins with three.
Brenna is oldest,
The glue of the group.
Loud,
Out-going.
John is most rational,
The impromptu leader.
Logical,
Decisive.
David is craziest,
The wildcard.
Brash,
Intimidating.
Three on the street.
Three for the house.
Three years of age.
Next there is four.
Emma is newest,
The unknown.
Shy,
Curious.
Four kids.
Four houses.
Four friends.
Four years.
It ends with five.
Janie is youngest,
A given in the group.
Coddled,
Confident.
Five voices.
Five lives.
Five kids.
Five adventures.
Five stories.
(Hold a grudge, tell a lie.
Ruin a life and always cry.)
Children ruling the neighborhood--
No, the world.
Alone in a sea of adults.
(Lost memories doused in shades of blue.)
Enemies defeated
With sheer imagination.
Viking hats like trophies
Perched on little heads.
Fight back the bad guys,
Triumph over all.
Imagination leads the way,
Stumbling over tiny feet.
Pause for nothing.
(Except food.
And family.
And bedtime.)
The deck is home.
The deck is comfort.
The deck is free.
The deck is infinite.
Enjoy the rain,
Adore the snow.
Lose the baseball,
Then find a sword.
Ignore the bugs,
The dog leash lying about,
The wet grass,
The broken fence.
Protected from evil
In the safety of the yard.
(Because grown-ups have
Nothing to do with it.)
Gravel-kingdom-cul-de-sac,
Top of the world.
Immovable.
(Car coming, run, run, run!)
(Sea of nothing, sea of green.
Grow up nice or grow up mean.)
David is the first to fall.
(Emma gives the push.)
A grudge held too long.
(Three-hundred-twenty-one memories forgotten.)
The line is drawn in the sand.
A rift forms.
John trusts David.
But Emma no longer holds his trust.
Brenna falls next.
(All too eager to hit rock bottom.)
She grew up too fast.
(Nine-hundred-sixty-five possibilities lost.)
Emma pulls back.
John moves on.
(Stop it, John,
We’re falling apart.)
Janie is dropped.
(I was trying to help.)
She doesn’t get back up.
(Two-hundred-ninety-nine regrets.)
John doesn’t forgive.
(It was an accident--
Don’t you ever stop to think?)
David is his final friend.
John jumps.
(Emma cries.)
A love lost before realized.
(Five-hundred-ninety-four things left unsaid.)
David is there for those in need.
(It was a misunderstanding,
He never actually fell.)
He stands unseen on the ledge.
Emma falls the furthest.
(She leaps after the others.)
She’s too far gone.
(Eight-hundred-twenty-seven lives not lived.)
Five memories forgotten,
Five possibilities lost,
Five regrets,
Five things left unsaid.
Five lives not lived.
(David is the last to fall,
With only five reasons
To remember it all.)
(Hurt a friend, don’t even blink.
Remain unfazed, don’t even think.)
Points: 33
Reviews: 105
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