Death in a Metro Bar

WASHINGTON (AP) 10 percent jump in slayings is ‘no aberration,’ constabulary think tank announces


A man got off the E Train
carrying a samurai sword,
three pistols, kerosene, propane,
and plastic handcuffs,
strode into a bar,
presumably not for a drink.
It made me think,
how did he get that far?
Who sat next to him
in the subway car?


FBI data has shown a rise in violent crime since 2004. The Justice Department says crime was historically low that year.


Pistol shots rang out
before two courageous barmaids,
brave ladies no doubt,
dove to wrestle him down.
I see images, fears hard to allay
they are still deep in my mind.
Was everyone on the street blind?
Did they turn their head away,
from a midnight stroller armed to the teeth,
not concerned if bullets didn't spray.


“Two years worth of increases in violent crime demonstrates a change in the extent and the nature of crime in America.”


I wonder what is wrong in
our cities and big towns,
subways and thoroughfares,
when a man so bent upon harm
can walk around without obstruction.
I wonder what the attorney's defense will be,
"He was temporarily insane, set him free.
He didn't really mean to cause destruction.
Something sure must have set him off,
poor victim of poverty and society."


WASHINGTON (AP) A public spokesman said after the shooting, "this attack was so bizarre that it could only have been committed by someone clearly deranged.”