Day 979

What else
should he have done?
He was walking his mother
to the hospital. She
was in pain: her arms
hurt. Her chest.
She was weak
from hunger and lack
of sleep. He carried her
part of the way,
was surprised
at how light she was,
lighter than his young
daughter. He was carrying her
to the hospital, set her down
on a slab of concrete
when she said she
was thirsty and needed
water. What else
was he to do? He went
to get her water,
and while he was gone —
still within sight
of her — a sniper
appeared suddenly
and shot her. Shot her
before he could get
to her. Shot her
dead on the street
on a concrete slab
from a fallen house
that had held
someone else’s
life and now
held his mother’s death.