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Read in: Pgh Post Gazette/Vox Populi

Author: Don Krieger
Reader: Don Krieger
Language: English

Unveiling

October 30, 2018, three of eleven killed at The Tree of Life Synagogue were buried.
One of the three was husband to my co-worker and friend.


Eleven lives taken
at The Tree of Life -- hours later
and miles away, our writing workshop
canceled, our chance for defiance
however small
gone.

I waited at the funeral
with hundreds to pass security,
newsboys on the street asking
with their cameras, Who is afraid?

I watched her halting walk to his grave,
reluctant like a child.

I followed like a child
with a shovelful of earth
to cover him.

I listened to the learned
seeking meaning, hundreds crowded
into the Beth Shalom basement,
police in armor at the entrance.

When the doors locked behind us,
I noticed the dampness
and a draft on my bare neck.

Today was eleven months,
hundreds standing witness
in the warmth beneath the trees.

I still live so I was there.

I wonder though
would we cancel our workshop
for a drive-by at a playground?




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