Stay Gold Ponyboy

Blood pooled, body doubled over,

Johnny’s back pocket indented from where the knife used to live

Where life and innocence were shed.

Stevie Wonder sings and tears spill down my face,

Students mockery, mundane middle school children.

Stay Gold like the sandy beaches on the coast

like the fairy dust and the stars

like the untarnished look of a softball trophy

Stay Gold like the flaming bronze of the Trojan Horse

and the pureness of the full moon on Halloween and

the blinding celestial bodies floating through the sky on a cloudless night

Stay Gold like smooth, molten, liquid rock

like a deep tan that only comes in the Summer and

the shimmery hair that comes along too

Stay gold like the light that reflects off of her brown eyes

like the warmth of the purest amber and

the brightness of the largest sunflower.

There’s still lots of good in the world.