To maura dejesus

Stepping out of the van and the morning
grabs hold. It's cool, no, it's
cold, uncomfortably so. Face smarts with it,
torso kept warm, that jacket was
worth the money. Got to be careful what to
spend it on now, it doesn't come in
like it should
anymore. There will be a bit of
walking to do now, but nothing
unmanageable. Nothing
that hasn't been done before. Nothing
different, nothing
new, nothing
to complain about, a fact of
life.
Cars go on past, their smell
is in the air. Smelling it
brings sadness... morning should
smell like grass, and dew, and birds, and bugs, and
!
The morning doesn't smell like
anything
now. Indifferent wheels keep turning,
roll on, maybe it's not
real.
One mile - yes, there was pain, but
it was the last in the series of
so many.
Two miles - beneath a car that
could never be afforded.
Three miles - unnoticed. But isn't that
how it always was?
Four miles - ah, indignity. With no breath left,
who will express the injustice?
Five miles - unreasonable. Can you imagine
the frustration?
Six miles - salvation. Transendence in a
parking lot. DO NOT CROSS this yellow tape, inhumanity
consumes the living... however,
that may be a better
fate than some.

"Illinois State Police investigators are asking the public for help as they continue to probe the death of a 24-year-old Chicago woman who was struck by at least two vehicles Nov. 28... The woman, identified by police as Maura DeJesus, apparently had exited a disabled van driven by her sister, Rolanda Garcia, before she was struck by at least one vehicle and then becoming trapped beneath a Lincoln Town Car at around 6:45 a.m. DeJesus was dragged beneath the Lincoln for more than six miles before the driver was alerted to the body, police said... The DuPage County coroner's office pronounced DeJesus dead at the scene at about 8:30 a.m. in the parking lot of Blockbuster Video... 'Apparently the woman driving the Lincoln Town Car did not realize she had run over the woman, and continued driving for at least six miles before a witness motioned to her and told her there was a body trapped beneath her vehicle,' said Illinois State Police Lt. Jeff Hedrich."
-Excerpts from an article written by Don Grigas in the Downers Grove Reporter.