Dry Eye

 

^{Dry Eye}

^{Where are the words that frame the day?}

^{the drops for dry eye?}

^{The other day I watched a video on Facebook} 

^{Teenage boys in the park}

^{beating up whoever looked like} 

^{they were minding their own business.}

^{I recall the face of one girl in my class}

^{her breathing laboured like an old man} 

^{with synus issues breathing through his mouth}

^{she was petite but the anger on her face}

^{left her frozen like a permanent bruise}

^{except for the smirk when she laughed}

^{planning who would be her next victim}

^{as a game, as a sport}

^{and you could spot the bully}

^{whose face had only one expression}

^{—contempt for everything outside it.} 

^{Holding their bodies hard against}

^{everything else that lives}

^{like the small boy collecting insects}

^{in a jar so he could pull out their legs}

^{for hours. When other kids asked why}

^{he did it. He shrugged.}

^{When I first realized I was a girl}

^{and not a boy, I was relieved, because} 

^{I couldn’t imagine going to war}

^{(as if war began on a distant field} 

^{with guns and bombs)}