Wednesday Poem: The Fence (that night)

In 1998, Matthew Shepard was the victim of a hate-crime. He was tortured and beaten after being lured from a bar by two men in Laramie, Wyoming. His murderers left him tied to a fencepost. He was discovered 18 hours later by a cyclist, who at first glance, thought Matthew was a scarecrow.  Four days later, Matthew died from his injuries in hospital. He was just 22 years old.

This poem is one of many from Lesléa Newman's beautiful and heart-breaking October Mourning: A Song for Matthew Shepard.



The Fence (that night)

I held him all night long

He was heavy as a broken heart

Tears fell from his unblinking eyes

He was dead weight yet he kept breathing

He was heavy as a broken heart

His own heart wouldn’t stop beating

He was dead weight yet he kept breathing

His face streaked with moonlight and blood

His own heart wouldn’t stop beating

The cold wind wouldn’t stop blowing

His face streaked with moonlight and blood

I tightened my grip and held on

The cold wind wouldn’t stop blowing

We were out on the prairie alone

I tightened my grip and held on

I saw what was done to this child

We were out on the prairie alone

Their truck was the last thing he saw

I saw what was done to this child

I cradled him just like a mother

Their truck was the last thing he saw

Tears fell from his unblinking eyes

I cradled him just like a mother

I held him all night long

OCTOBER MOURNING: A SONG FOR MATTHEW SHEPARD. Copyright © 2012 by Lesléa Newman. Reproduced by permission of the publisher, Candlewick Press, Somerville, MA.