I have never been able to finish Night
Is some message of hope to be found in its final pages?
Close the book and remember
An old woman pulling back her sleeve
Me, a young girl, barely able to comprehend
The pale skin marred by a crude tattoo
Close eyes and remember
As twenty years slide beneath...
Now fast forward to an L.A. night
Where young people gather to dance or just share a light
Someone cracks a joke and the laughter that ripples through the huddle
Is silenced by young men with slick scalps and red-laced boots
The silvery flash- a blade of cold metal suddenly gone hot and bloody
A man falls to the ground-confusion-screams
The attacker grins as he runs his spider covered hand through non-existent hair.
He knows faith without works is dead
On pavement cold and hard
The bleeding man draws his knees up to his chest
A dark form curled up like a fetus on the glittering sidewalk
His life streams into a waiting gutter
And he can feel the separation of body from soul
Relinquishing the flesh, his spirit rises
Looking down upon the stillness, he feels nothing