Morning in America

The news glares from my phone screen during my morning commute. As the train rumbles underground and the tunnel-lights dash past the dark windowpanes, I steel myself for the sickening mantra: Senseless shooting. Died a hero. Several injured. This time, the nearby Potomac Avenue metro station. Every time, the same hopeless rage. The Washington Post says the trains went dark and commuters hit the floor. I slump in my plastic seat, preparing, my gaze newly riveted to the floor vibrating beneath my feet. I gasp. Baked into the textured black vinyl are thousands of shards of red, white, and blue. 

DK Snyder’s work appears in Cease Cows Magazine, Unbroken Journal, Shotgun Honey, and elsewhere. She lives in Virginia.