Mama fixed my necklace, fiddling with it back into place.

I calmly let her do this, with a soft and grateful face.

Mama never realized where I had been last night

or the images that burned into my brain from a single sight.

Abby sipped her coffee while we chat in a cafe.

She groaned about her awful, horrid, absolute worst day.

I sympathized with diligence, but Abby never knew

of what I witnessed days ago, and what damage it would do. 

Caleb got frustrated since I hadn’t texted back. 

I sent him an apology, I asked him for some slack.

I attempted telling Caleb about what I had seen last week. 

But his response was heartless, and to this day, we still don’t speak.

My brother came by to visit me after a month flew by. 

I wanted to explain the scene that I caught with my eye. 

My brother wasn’t interested to hear such scary news

and so I kept it to myself while we talked about his issues.

On the day that marked the anniversary of that crazy night,

I felt my eyes and ears remain alert for any dangers in sight.

The memories etched into my spine, even if I keep my days joy-filled.

How does a person talk about being present when a man gets killed?