Attack In a Subway (Poetry)

Like dominos we fell,
daughter, mother, everyone we told —
the shock passed on down the line.
And, toppled by the news,
we twitched, fish-mouthing disbelief
in questions, angry, hurt, confused.

Those bruises, too, are mine —
through you they’ve damaged me.
I ache, with every nerve grown raw,
indignation oozing from each sigh,
bitter in my thoughts,
tasting the hate.

I know your fear,
I tremble with you as you speak of it,
eyes wide, skin cold, rigid in your shell.
You made your statement,
spoke for all of us with a victim’s calm dignity,
injustice never mentioned, you kept to facts.
They were enough.

We’re close — hurt one, we all fall down,
a shared injury to brood on,
a thin scar that runs deep.