A phrase
that stabs safety
to death.
Some shudder

whenever it’s uttered — say,
when they are stopped
by a roadside, knowing
that to reach for them

too quickly
or too slowly
or to question the need
to show them at all

might be fatal.
Others shrug, say
it should be routine
and if nothing forbidden

is happening, why
worry at all? These
are the folks
who do not understand

how much has been
forbidden to so many
in order for them
to live so snugly

in their cocoons,
ignorant of such fear,
such pervasive,
grinding fear.

Those who shrug
do not understand
how much depends
on that lack of understanding.