I guess this is just
the way it is now?
Yesterday the hottest
day yet ever?
Every holiday another
forgetting how
to ignore the headlines
hardly elaborated
about the latest
overnight shootings
sometimes in the city
of your birth?
Could the neighbors
hear it above
the sounds of fireworks
in the distance
next door oblivious
participants in
extending traumatic
responses some
may have no outlet
to understand
under the bed?
Eventually all that is
left once the lights
disintegrate as
the smoke dissipates
is air a little bit
harder to breathe
than it was yesterday
Joshua Keiter 