• Can normalcy span
    As far as we try to see?
    News headlines
    Movie star adopts African b*****d
    Murder in Burbank
    Rape victim in Reno
    Boy saves family from fire
    His heroics are unheard of.
    It’s almost laughable
    What they show on television.

    A man is mugged in an alley
    Between a police station and VFD
    Women look away defiantly
    Carefully stepping over the morning dew.

    Children stand on the sidewalk
    Watching the fads on the TV screen
    Eyes glued
    Globs of saliva dribbling from soft lips
    Learning how to fit into crowds.

    A man in uniform walks out of the grocery store
    He opens his pack of Marlboros, ripping the paper packaging,
    Rushing to stick the sweet satisfaction into his mouth.
    He accidentally drops his wallet on the ground
    I decide it’s not important.

    The darkness creeps silently
    As not to wake the sleeping children
    I search for yesterday’s magazines
    Craving the good news of week’s past
    Their hollow consolation only whistles in the wind
    I listen.