by stella graham-landau
we did not learn
at the police academy
how to handle traffic leaving costco
while navigating people running in the street carrying pet cats
when the world is burning before our eyes
nor was there a module in crime prevention on
how to tell the difference between a masked customer
or a masked bandit
and how to stay healthy in either case
in crime scene management
we were only taught a prayer
to deal with multiple mass shooters in a mall
“you better pray that it’s just one shooter and that their gun jams”
on a regular december day in boulder
with no snow on the ground
an ordinary man
on an ordinary task to buy soup for his sick wife
knew how bad things were
not from the dense smoke blocking the sky
nor the galloping customers racing to their cars
not even the screams of children being dragged to safety
but the face of the police officer
directing traffic
with fear in his eyes
stella graham-landau is an artist and writer living in richmond, va. she is vaccinated, boosted, masked, and insistently optimistic that we will emerge as better, kinder citizens of the global village.
