everywhere every second people's hearts are breaking

can you hear them? It's the crunch of stepping on tiny white beach shells

lives being fractured like pieces of glass, sudden shards from a pane that moments ago

you could see through

sense breaks down like that. reality so clearly a mirage there comes a moment

when we all just hit a wall. not metaphorically - face first

bloody nose glasses broken into two.

and then we try to do everything we can, we put on our coats

bundle up and rush over to those on the periphery of the shock

alone in their apartments even if (what was the word Joris used?) calm about things

things like suicide, at this age, Joris says, and you don't know if he means that twenty-four is young

or twenty-four is old. maybe both.