Counting Cop Cars
Timing is everything
a hurtling bus and a curb
she/he didn't step off
and lived, for instance
because they did not stay
for one more drink
or one more round
and missed the
mass of steel or
the slug through
the back of the head
that did not happen
since her
morning thirst
was slaked
at the kitchen sink
not the corner pub
where the mad man
with guns began firing
at 11:02 and not 11:12
in which case she was
just opening the windows
on a perfect day counting
cars across the street
so many cop cars
at the intersection
of time and space
Timing is everything
a hurtling bus and a curb
she/he didn't step off
and lived, for instance
because they did not stay
for one more drink
or one more round
and missed the
mass of steel or
the slug through
the back of the head
that did not happen
since her
morning thirst
was slaked
at the kitchen sink
not the corner pub
where the mad man
with guns began firing
at 11:02 and not 11:12
in which case she was
just opening the windows
on a perfect day counting
cars across the street
so many cop cars
at the intersection
of time and space