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.