That good ol’ boy would not stay down, illustrated by Rachell Sumpter


One summer three kids drowned
under Jotunheim Falls.
They warned, “Don’t horse around.
The stream might look small, but
the force can shove you down.”

In the spray, we always
watched where the water hit.
Sean, most coltish of all,
would swim up and tease it.
He made us be grown-ups.

One steaming day, Sean went
higher than our jump spot—
then higher—holy shit!
He fetched the Bunyan top—
then leapt. The wide world stalled.

Our earthbound hearts stopped. Stopped.
He was lost. Mist. Then—                      pop!

By Rachell Sumpter

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