The biggest moment of his life

was when he took it -

so big it was that it rose up to meet him

with a large handshake,

a welcome to something he knew nothing about

nor wished to,

but nothing he could imagine

would be worth remaining behind for -

all the colours bled into one

like a balloon with nothing to celebrate,

a rubber joke inflated.

Perhaps he was the joke,

well he would show them

with this gesture of defiance

spiced with a little self reliance. 

 

Those who knew him said it was a shock,

such a normal guy working round the clock.

Everything to live for,

you know the script:

the one that invariably leads

from the cradle to any early crypt.