kolmanlit
A Gunshot
There's nothing like a gunshot
to render things superfluous.
Thinking about the calibre of a street,
I reach many conclusions.
I was just standing in front
of a grocery store on this warm May day.
My eyes staring at
the used furniture place across the street.
Long city blocks in our midst.
Let me say I don't feel safe here.
Coming up the block,
from my right,
was a young man
in dress pants and dress shirt,
coming from his job,
at three-thirty in the afternoon,
to go to the train station
another two blocks ahead.
Suddenly a gunshot rang out.
Aimed at the gentleman.
He did not flinch and kept calm.
It came from a man across the street.
He missed. He ran away.
The shooter was a crazed, unemployed
warehouse worker.
Is there any consolation in that fact?
The employed young man was
going about his daily business.
He was not wandering
as the crazed guy apparently was.
Perhaps robbery was a motive.
Perhaps someone didn't want him there.
Such are the calibre of the streets.
Who steered them there at that point in time
for my perusal?
to render things superfluous.
Thinking about the calibre of a street,
I reach many conclusions.
I was just standing in front
of a grocery store on this warm May day.
My eyes staring at
the used furniture place across the street.
Long city blocks in our midst.
Let me say I don't feel safe here.
Coming up the block,
from my right,
was a young man
in dress pants and dress shirt,
coming from his job,
at three-thirty in the afternoon,
to go to the train station
another two blocks ahead.
Suddenly a gunshot rang out.
Aimed at the gentleman.
He did not flinch and kept calm.
It came from a man across the street.
He missed. He ran away.
The shooter was a crazed, unemployed
warehouse worker.
Is there any consolation in that fact?
The employed young man was
going about his daily business.
He was not wandering
as the crazed guy apparently was.
Perhaps robbery was a motive.
Perhaps someone didn't want him there.
Such are the calibre of the streets.
Who steered them there at that point in time
for my perusal?
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A Gunshot
A Gunshot
