a half mile from home by Teri H Hoover
`
I live in Blacksburg, Virginia. Almost everyday, my dog Pepper and I walk the Huckleberry Trail- less than a half mile from Virginia Tech. For nearly a year now I have been writing while I walk. I made it to the fourth line of my thought (by talking it into my phone-) when my writing was stopped by the Virginia Tech alert sirens.
`
Two days of rain,
leaves this trail clean
Two days inside-
the whole of me leans into the joy of
moving...
Forward-
toward unknown endings.
I approach the cornered fork.
where once I saw a fox-
straight-
from pointed nose to muffled tail
straight -
as a bullet from a gun.
I approach the cornered fork
Slamming into a sound of a mind numbing
alert.
Someone lays dying-
The wailing of sirens beneath the words
“This is not a test... seek shelter
now.”
Down the hill, a quarter mile from
Virginia Tech.
A half a mile from home.
A postscript - this evening they released the name of the Virginia Tech Police officer who was shot and killed.
Slain Officer Identified
`
A postscript - this evening they released the name of the Virginia Tech Police officer who was shot and killed.
Slain Officer Identified
God bless the family of Deriek W. Crouse.
`
