remembering sean

by normal

sean o’neill, eugene’s son passed the syringe
over to me
“i come from an old line of fuckups,” he said
“maybe this is the year i follow the rite of
family passage & do myself in”
“me too” i said
“you don’t know shit,” he said “anyone
commits suicide before the age of 40
has murdered a stranger”
i nodded & tapped the needle in

an hour later the cops kicked the door in
we were booked at the charles st station
i was sent to the brooklyn house of detention
it was april 19th 1963, my 20th birthday
i never saw sean again

later that year i heard sean had thrown
himself out a window at the 5th st precinct
for him, it was the end of the line

i was just getting started