The news will break impartially
on the radio, or some website feed –
many have died, somewhere close by,
no names yet
and you will feel
perhaps,
no,
it couldn’t be,
and you will read
a placename you know,
an appointment you remember dimly,
and you will hope,
and you will call a phone that does not answer,
you will call again, and again,
and then you will know.
You will know.