As I bike to work a thought overtakes me

We could all die now

On this gorgeous winter day

Before the wheel completes one more turn

Crushed by his angry, mighty blow

Like eggshell

Our lives in his hands

His head full of demons

Like then, only worse

At the red light a child in a stroller, oblivious, whispers to her doll and smiles

Her mother pushes through the morning commuters, struggling to hold it together

“Let’s get on with the day,” she says, to herself “One step at a time,” she adds

A bus driver blows his horn at the demonstrators blocking the road

A crowd of students on their way to school stare with overcast eyes

This is not how it ends

Because war is always wrong

That much we’ve learnt

And the evil is one, and the peaceful are many

Let it stop, I pray

We will heal the wounds

And mourn the dead

We will sow the land and water our plants

We will fall in love again

We will teach our children to love this earthly world of ours

Let it not end here