The highway bridge that lies
Just outside of town,
Sends cars on an endless journey.
A never-ending quest
To reach the mountains of
Neverland.
And the twisting shadows
Creeping through the cracks of the moonlight
From the Black Castle and casting
A darkness into the land of
Light
That's what you told me,
In bed when it was dark.
And I thought that the road
Would crash into the sea,
And the cars would be dragged underneath
By the leathery hands
And the poisonous beauty
Of the mermaids,
Clinging to the flesh of drowning grown-ups.
Hypnotising,
Crooning softly
Death's sweet song
And I was scared of the road,
So I stayed behind.
A defect, an outcast,
Refusing to obey the rules
As one by one,
The cars were sent on an endless journey
To reach the metallic gates
Of the Black Castle.
Because everyone knows
That Peter Pan
Guided children to Heaven.
So I interpret the story of the bridge
As a cheater of Death.
And the underpass,
Abandoned and graffitied,
Where I am hidden. I am safe.
And Peter Pan cannot lead me to salvation,
If salvation can never find me.
And the days were composed,
As a soundtrack is,
From the sounds of rusty metal,
As boys clambered the fence,
Away from the adults who claimed
That the road led to Neverland.
And the soles of trainers on the concrete floor,
The tap dancing finality of the underpass
Don't be frightened
Of the fistfights
That take place under the red sky,
Glowing as the fires of Hell
Because at least
Peter Pan didn't lead us here.
We are here
By choice,
And we survive
As brothers.
Don't be frightened,
As we are avenging
The lost boys.
Who were manipulated into leaving
The safety of their prams,
Under the guise that they would be led
To salvation.
Guided to Heaven on the wings of an entity,
Taking the form of a boy.
Guided to their sweetly demise
And drowned at the leathery hands
Of the moonlit mermaids
And the metallic barrel
Of the Captain's gun.
We are the lost boys
Escaping Death,
Safe under the bridge,
Under the red sky of glowing eyes.
And the bruises
And the split lips
And the black eyes from fistfights
Are signs that we are alive,
And the tears from the younger boys
Who haven't yet learned
That this is how we escape
Salvation.
Because we
Are the cheaters of Death,
The slayers of tricksters
Who open the metallic gates
Of underworlds.
And Peter Pan can never guide us to Heaven,
Because the road
Crashes into the sea.
And the mermaids will sweetly drown you
If you get too close.
And Hook's eyes turn red
As he guts you.
And every time we fight
Under the red sky like fire,
Like the eyes of a man
Waiting at the end of the bridge
To tear your life from the mercy
Of your soul,
We know we have successfully escaped
The Hook of the Captain,
Because we know
From looking up at the red sky
Through black eyes and split lips,
That someone drove their car
Into the sea,
And saw his eyes turn red
As the mermaids kissed the air
Out of their lungs.
And we,
The lost boys,
Fighting underneath the bridge
To prove that we are still alive,
To prove that we are winning
Our game of hide and seek
With Death,
We are comforted in the thought
That Peter Pan can never lead us to salvation,
If salvation can never find us.
Jamie, 2021