more and more i think he will be alright

written 21 mar 2021

i told him to be careful,
to be careful, to be careful,
yet he climbed higher up the sycamore
to punch all the worms out of its skin
and i sat there in the grass, my neck starting to ache.
maybe i am more worried about his torn knuckles
than i am about my own – 
after all, his are quite strong 
they pulled my body from the violent rapids
and i wasn’t even conscious to see it.