I Should Know

Feeling my way
Through the dusk
And fragrance
Of spring lilacs
I find my boy
Perched
On a picket fence

With fingertips
I trace his spine
From the base of his skull
On down
Across the lumps
That once
Were healthy hip bones

We share the sounds
Of a city winding down
And agree
The madness out there
Kills quicker than car tires

He arches and hisses
At something
And I want to believe
He isn't crazy
But seven
Or eight lives lost
In five short years
Has left him fighting
An enemy
Only he can see