Unveiling

Oct. 30, 2018, three of the 11 people killed at The Tree of Life Synagogue were buried. One of the three was the husband of the poet’s coworker and a friend.

Eleven lives taken at The Tree of Life — miles away, our writing workshop canceled our chance for defiance however small gone.

I waited at the funeral with hundreds to pass security newsboys on the street asking with their cameras, Who is afraid?

I watched her halting walk to his grave reluctant like a child.

I followed like a child with a shovelful of earth to cover him.

I listened to the learned seeking meaning, hundreds crowded into the Beth Shalom basement police in armor at the entrance.

When the doors closed behind us I noticed the dampness like the killing showers.

Today was eleven months hundreds standing witness in the warmth beneath the trees.

I still live so I was there. I will do more next time.

no matter where.

— Don Krieger

Don Krieger is a biomedical researcher living in Pittsburgh. His poetry has appeared online in Uppagus Magazine, Entropy, Tuck, Vox Populi Sphere, and others; in print in Hanging Loose and Neurology; and in several print anthologies including, in both English and Farsi, “Persian Sugar in English Tea,” Volumes I and III.