just a boy

it was his eyes
versions of them
staring out
or lashing out
from various points
of his
short-lived career
a few photographs
still move me
like his music
rarely-seen glimpses
of a boy
struggling to be a man

fighting an image
of what people wanted
him
to be
he was
just a boy
his lyrics spoke to
a generation much younger
and they spoke to me.
he was
not much younger
than i

he will never grow to be
as old as me
he will not
grow old
as I will
he was
as strong as
he could be
not strong enough
to deal with
a 24-hour news cycle
still in its infancy

as much as he
obtained fame
he fought to dismiss it
he could not have lived
in a world where
each phone was a camera
each person carried a camera
like a gun
he was just a boy who could
not have taken
more attention
he was fragile

he could not handle
all that he had
he was
a poet
lived his words
and died
among them
music always lives on
not the musician
he
made us think
we still do

“I really miss being able to blend in with people.”
                                                                      Kurt Cobain
                               February 20, 1967 – April 5, 1994

This month is all about poetry.
Something new every day.