The News

The news said an unidentified man died today

in an accident involving several stray bullets,

fired from the gun of a plainclothes cop,

embedded in the man’s chest and head and arm,

and though this man looked just like you,

I thought not of you, but of your mother

who raised three kids she outlived

and still kept living, and I know

this man the news said died is not you

because you died long before today,

but I couldn’t help but think of your mother

and pray that she’s okay.