For Sorrow Near I Did Not Look

Every day, someone defies the odds
And has some rare bad thing visit them—
The earthquake arrives in their village,

Their particular, quiet village,
Or the fire sweeps through, or the flash flood,
The rockfall, even the meteor

Picks out the roof under which they sleep
And smashes it in on them. Not you,
Never you so far, maybe never

You ever. After all, how many do you know
Of your personal acquaintances
Who were crushed in a fogbound pile-up

Or hit by proverbial lightning?
If you’re not in a war zone and not
Used to living in harm’s way, you sleep

And dream your nightmares of disasters
Which you expect to fade when you wake,
But last night someone defied the odds.