He was obsessed with electric cars

causing him to miss work

before he was fired, he submitted

a proposal to switch city owned vehicles

to electric energy

received a thank you letter

no further action taken

He built an electric motor bike

receiving tickets, citations

or jail whenever he was stopped

he donated the bike to his high school

he was before his time

He started hearing voices

I was a thief who had stolen his soul

the cat planned to kill him

the beams on the ceiling

closing in on him

because of electric cars

I thought it was drugs

He stopped talking to me

I asked him to move

said he was happy to go

but two weeks later

he asked me to marry him

and to let him know before his rent was due

I told him no

We had a daughter

his only spark at reality

He kept 99 Cent store toys

in his pockets for her

He was diagnosed

paranoid schizophrenic

but refused to take his meds

he lost his apartment

and lived in the park

near his father’s house

I saw him eating out of the trash

and cried nothing I could do for him

In the spring of ‘86

he was beaten to death in that park

for saying or doing the wrong thing

at the wrong time.