day FIVE HUNDRED and SEVENTY EIGHT

                                    Another Day in America

there’s a man on Douglas
looking up at the sky
as I get closer, he makes
eye contact says
have you ever seen
anything like that?
points at three helicopters
triangulating
he says there was a gunfight
on the street corner
over the hill
the choppers
are looking
for the shooter
he wonders
how they’ll find them

I nod, think about a friend
who texted this afternoon
said her building was on lockdown
an active shooter situation outside

it should be disturbing
but this is just another
day in America

--Jason Baldinger