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.