Boston Marathon Bombing

We had driven to Boston all the way from St.  Louis

To run in this famous race.

On the way our talk had constructed

A world of bright flowers, quiet meadows.

I had bought new running shoes.

She had bought new clothes.

We were staying in a motel in Roxbury, and

Early on Marathon Day

We set out to celebrate by running.

We ran without really running,

Like a person at a protest rally

Whose mind and spirit are really

At home with a good book.

The crowd was so massive:

We were two gravel on a gravelly shore.

When the bombs exploded,

We fell down, partly because of the shock,

Partly because of fact that our world,

Which we had so carefully constructed

While driving  from St. Louis

Exploded.

When the bombs exploded,

We knew that we, and

Our well constructed world,

Had forever changed.

--April 17, 2013