setting cats on fire

in the neighborhood,
roaming the streets
at night
there was always
a kid
who wanted to throw
a rock
through a window,
or set a cat
on fire, or
flatten a tire
with a knife
he stole from his
mother's kitchen.
he'd encourage you
with wild
blue eyes, and
freckles like
bees captured
alive on his face
to join him,
but you'd look at him
and shake your
twelve year old head
and say, what are
crazy? hardly a day
goes by without
reading the paper
and waiting to see his
face and name