Shoulders protecting my ears
I hunched down the street,
hoping that I wouldn't
have to wait in the cold for too long.
I hesitate.
A knot of people
is congregated
in the middle of the block.
But there are obvious
official types in the crowd,
and an ambulance
is stopped at the curb.
Things are under control.
Someone is lying
mounded against the wall.
Must be a drunk
a distressing, familiar sight.
There is no urgency
among the officers
and ambulance attendants,
just a nervous aimlessness.
My steps falter.
The thought enters my cold slowed brain
that perhaps my initial estimation
of the situation is grossly mistaken.
Because the ambulance drivers
are doing nothing.
Because the official types are doing nothing.
And most importantly,
the inebriate is doing nothing.
Not even breathing.
And someone in the crowd
says,
Were you here?
Did you see what happened
Yeah, it was two white guys
And I look again
and o my god there she is,
hair rising a little in the wind,
urine streaking the sidewalk.
One of the men in blue
says to another man in blue,
ìWell what are we gonna do,
we canít leave her here.î
I watched the news tonight.
Nobody talked about some young woman
being killed in downtown.
Maybe it will be in the paper tomorrow.