a shooting
they fall
car bomb
a few more gone
bloodied
family screaming with grief

my neighbor, oblivious
tends the bird bath
watches blue jays, pecking
trims flower beds of winter shag

her lunch of ham
tomato
avocado
eaten in yard silence
surrounded by oak trees
breathing air of California winter
56 degrees

more shooting
soldiers run
extract victims
pile them in black body bags
on the streets far away

that is the news today
and she retreats, again