Michael Berkowitz

For a medical examiner in Orlando

Worse than the sirens, worse
than the phone calls from the office that come too early,
too often,

at all,

worse than the hangover pulsing
against my temples, the coffee,
worse even than the silence

would be

is this chorus
from pockets and purses and palms

of vibration and ringtones and missed calls and

on one upturned screen
below the blood and cracked
glass:

we love you
please
come home.

Michael Berkowitz is a poet, aspiring trapeze artist, and web developer who lives in Watertown, MA in the real world, and on the internet at http://www.songsaboutsnow.com