here’s a map
marking the moments
of monstrous evil

the times when people
floated down from the fire
and in the smoke
and in the rubble
landed

or women and children
herded into airtight rooms
made to answer
for unreasoning hate

hate the common refrain
of all these places of interest
in the times
and the spaces
of monstrous evil

the collapsing
of buildings and of
innocence
and a world
becoming so much bigger
than we ever wanted

here’s a map
marking the moments

the burning of young men
some hung in trees
made to answer
to monstrous bigots

bombs on busses
suicide vests
artillery into schoolyards

random shooters
screaming children
dying and making
monsters happy

buildings fall
people burn
bodies fly
monstrous evil
monstrous evil

but this is all of us
we are good or evil
sometimes good and evil

over here is one
who has inside her head
a Bach cello piece
and over here is one
who has the plans
for the next Auschwitz
in his

here’s the map
marking the moments
of monstrous evil

it unfolds
and asks us will we be
one or the other

September 11, 2021
Los Angeles