Always a bad sign

people on the sidewalk looking up.

A crowd forms, cars slow

then stop,

people on the sidewalk looking up.

I step into the pool of them

then stop.

I gape like the others.

I step into the pool of them,

become the pool

and gape like the others.

Mothers, peddlers, suits

become the pool

of a wreck.

Mothers, peddlers, suits,

my super, my neighbors,

a wreck

unfolding, undone.

My super, my neighbors,

no one is not stunned.

Unfolding, undone,

we look at our watches,

stunned.

Someone says let's pray.

We examine our watches.

A crowd forms. Cars stop.

Someone says let's pray

always a bad sign.

This poem first appeared in Poetry.