More than a Boy

Image: Pixabay

This poem is a love story of sorts and is based very loosely on a true incident that happened after a friend’s brother took my horse without permission from where it was tied.

This story is different, however, and imagines a shy and troubled young boy of around thirteen who is enamored with a kind and beautiful young woman training her horse on the beach. All is well until the young woman’s fiance shows up and the ensuing events lead to tragedy.

MORE THAN A BOY

 

He was troubled and young,

but not yet was a man,

though he wished

he could prove he was more

to a girl he saw riding a spirited horse

on a beach and its glistening shore.

 

From that moment he saw her

she captured his heart

and it flipped and it fluttered like wings

but he doubted his words,

she would never have heard,

for a boy doesn’t know of such things.

 

So, each day on the beach

he had sat and he dreamed,

wishing he put the kiss on her cheek,

but he stayed out of sight

as he watched the horse dance

and he searched for the

courage to speak.

 

But another had joined her

with love in his eyes

and her smile set the heavens apart.

The boy’s anger had sparked

and his jealousy burned

for he wanted that place in her heart.

 

So, with temper and tears,

he had crept to her horse

and he took it from where it was tied

and he wrenched on the stirrups

and snatched at the reins

as he mounted its saddle to ride.

 

But the horse was beyond him,

too hard to control,

as the girl had cried out in dismay.

When the boy saw her anguish,

he tried to turn back

but was destined for

heartbreak that day.

 

For the horse ran on fast,

it was mad with a fear

that the boy was now helpless to stop

and it ploughed up the dunes

and it burst through the fence

to the roadway that waited on top.

 

The horse kicked and it reared

and it threw the boy clear

as it slid on the black oily tar

and the girl and her lover

came running at speed

to see only the flash of a car.

 

And her screams took a knife

to the boy’s foolish heart –

how he wished he was more than a boy –

as he lay there and cried

and he felt the regret

for the horse she would

have to destroy.

 

So, the ambulance came

and the doors were both closed,

as it left that sad scene well behind.

The boy stared into space

and he wished he had died.

for it played like a film in his mind.

 

To his bedside she came,

to make sure he was right,

but his guilt like a flame it had flared

and his eyes couldn’t meet hers,

his words they fell mute,

for he didn’t deserve that she cared.

 

Then she said she was leaving

and moving away,

and was going to marry her friend,

and she hoped he did well,

and could find his true love,

because that’s all there is in the end.

 

Then she kissed him so softly

and whispered these words –

“We have each only one life to live,

so don’t squander what’s yours

on a wasted remorse,

it’s yourself you must learn to forgive.”

 

The boy heeded her words

and he found the right way

and his troubled young heart

is now strong.

He’s much more than a boy,

he’s become a fine man

and he’s found his own place to belong.

 

But he’s grateful each day

for the lessons he learned

and the chance to have

proven he’s more

to a girl he saw riding a spirited horse

on a beach and its long-ago shore.

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