Violence

My friend was murdered.  
It seems like something that happened to someone else.  
Surreal.  
The story was on the news.  
H called to tell me.  
I don’t recall how I felt at the time.  
Another summer, another death.  
The third year in a row.  
——-
I must call B and tell her the news.  
She probably already knows.  
It is the right thing to do for a friend.  
 
—-  
 
I did not realize I was a victim of a crime until the funeral.  
The widow gave a speech.  
She said we were all touched by this event.  
All victims.  
That is what I recall.  
Not the words.  
The idea.  
An act sends out ripples like a stone into a pond.  
They spread outwards touching so many.  
I can’t bear the idea of being any closer to where the stone landed.  
A wife, a child, a sibling……