news

we don’t give ourselves

enough credit

for not being violent:

old lady in the library

reading tolstoy;

the family of three in eddie’s

picking the apple

cider for a party.

the news is like the sun

on skin … bad and good

mixed up to where

we need a screen

but usually just take

the beating:

a stabbing at the parade;

the lottery winner poisoned.

fear and gruesome stories

gather storm clouds

above the city

that threaten

everybody on the streets.

we try our best

to acclimate

to the weather’s

give and take:

taking cover beneath

our newspapers

we miss

some subtle change:

down the street

a new volunteer serves soup

at the kitchen;

a middle school

rises from the disuse

of a coat factory

as construction workers

install new windows

through which fresh

eyes will see.