Mind Drift

His mind drifts to the homeless man in Chicago
killed as he slept in his pile of rags
with a hunting arrow, steel shafted, razor tipped
for curiosity perhaps
or mindless perversity
or for the hell of it

And a little boy in Yellowstone, four or five years old
pushed eagerly toward a bull elk by his father
as though the wild thing were Disney tame
innocently stupid
a thoughtless thing
this child in harm's way

And he remembers the lives that he has touched
wonders if they feel the same cold shaft
and the shove of his hand against their back