January 7th

npr fills us in
we discuss in hushed voices
over breakfast
as if talking too loud
might make it worse

half a world away from France
it hurts to go to work
i find solace in my role as
library
front line protector
of the books
of the magazines

all i want to do is break things
at the injustice
i want to snap
every pencil
snap the halves
in half
until they are nothing

but i do not break the pencil in my hand

in wars past we have
shipped our support in bombs

wrapped in yellow ribbon
i am mailing my pencils to paris

*Composed January 7th, 2015, in response to the Charlie Hebdo Shooting.