the grass outside
the federal detention center

dry and sharp and hollow
as a hypodermic needle

doctors in lab coats
cloud-bright

under overcast skies
carrying placards

two uniforms on the roof
watchful, but less

like eyes
than the windows below

narrow opaque
the wall’s blank face

and those behind it–
On the metro,

each stop, more,
compressing into the car

held soley in place
by curved backs and bellies

and angular shoulders
one large body of bodies

hurtling down the track
toward a common goal

a rush of blood into
a freshly opened wound