it daily reigns
as head counts and headlines,
as fact and horror.
Casual mentions transform
entire lives into fleeting radio waves.
In my dreams
the impossible manifests
as partially-laden buses careens into the ocean
jarring me awake in a sweat.
I wake surrounded by a darkness
more felt than seen.
In our neighborhood
we give thanks for the life of
and pass the dingy emptiness
of a porch no longer used.
The shadow of souls I never knew
nest mysteriously in the crevices of my brain.
In the stories
my girls share
details draped in nonchalance
as they speak of guns and jail.
The 12-year-old begged to go to the party
where her cousin shot that man.
In our futures
it is coming
for heavy-laden and free alike
to relieve this exhausted flesh.
I fight to live in the here and now
while it preys relentlessly on my mind.
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