While golfing . . .

Yesterday an alert went out:

BALLISTIC MISSILE THREAT INBOUND

SEEK IMMEDIATE SHELTER.

THIS IS NOT A DRILL

A mother called her son in Texas—

Stay on the line until . . .

A father held his son—

Don’t worry, while the whole time

He was shitting his pants

He held him so tight, sobbing

A group of friends strolled down to the beach—

If this is it, we’ll go together

A young girl walked away from her job,

The one she hated, she thought about calling home

A couple stayed in bed, let’s stay here forever, they said

People ran to their bathrooms and hid in the tub

A mom lowered her children into the sewer,

First lifting the heavy manhole cover

A man went into a church to pray

But no words came, only unholy utterances

The teenage boy wished he had been more bold

The teenage girl had no regrets, she smiled at everyone

He didn’t know what to do

She knew one thing that had to be done

Only after—

There was no all-clear—

More of a general resignation, a tweet

Did the realization dawn:

We are still here.