Now Poor Never

Knowing what they know already
They still express anxiety—
Is it now? Is the horror now?—
And hope—Not yet, not yet, not yet!

The pattern is plain in stories
Where the characters are fated—
Is it now? Not yet, please, not yet!—
And in war zones, and in pile ups,

And in the Code Blue ER rooms,
And on sunny suburban streets
In America where neighbors
Are known to run amok with guns—

No! Please, god, no! cries the jogger,
The woman pushing a stroller,
Not now! Not yet, not yet, not yet!
Then the shooter pulls the trigger

Or runs on. Andromache wails
From the fortress walls for Hector
Not to go down to fight, not yet,
Knowing what she knows, horrified,

Stay with me on the wall! Not yet!
Knowing what every person knows,
Still terrified the moment’s now
Or soon. So soon? Not yet, not yet!