Time Differences

Atlanta, 3:00 a.m.—
I am standing in 
a late-night thunderstorm
watching the rain dash
to the pavement and die,
wanting to join in their kamikaze.

Reykjavik, 9:00 a.m.—
There is a boy in the train station
running late
because he had to wash
the blood off of his hands.

Cairo, 11:00 a.m.—
A girl stands in the city square
face-to-face with the man
who stole her childhood
and refuses to wed him;
she stares down onlookers
with stones in their hands.

New Delhi, 2:30 p.m.—
On a busy street a man
sits with his hat in his hand;
maybe a passerby 
will bandage his wounds.

Manila, 5:00 p.m.—
A girl I have never met before
sits at the top of a tree
and wonders if the sand below
could swallow her.

Honolulu, 9:00 p.m. (yesterday)—
The ocean flings herself at the shore,
and my love flings himself at the sea.

San Francisco,12:00 a.m.—
You are sitting alone in your apartment
thinking that no one is dying tonight.