Train Wreck
Hannah Gerber

There are too many

realities

to have the nerve

to become so utterly

caught up in

one’s own.

The vanity of living without tragedy

makes me numb

to the refugee

the mother whose child was set afire

the woman at the jewelers yesterday

who came in while I was choosing my bauble

and in response

to the ‘how are you?’ offered by staff

told how she buried her son

the day before

along with her

grand-daughter.

And we cant ask,

and we don’t even want to know

and we either cluck our well fed tongues

in response to the days news

or we deny the news in it’s entirety.

Cruel we are

to the stranger on the road

with disdainful eyes

we glance unseeing upon the

bothersome family in the next booth

the idiotic teller

the moron unseen who forgot to put all the burgers in the bag

our flesh and blood.

And yet we wonder why.