I'm still waiting for the news to sink in. I try to get to It could have been me because it could have easily, because I'm queer and I'm Latinx and so I force my thoughts to linger because by now I should be at It could have been any number of my friends. It could have been practically all of my friends all at once. We lived in dance clubs since before we were old enough to order a drink or give our mothers an honest answer. (Where were you last night? You smell like cigarettes.) But I can't find my way there past the numbness of again.

Allison Paster-Torres was raised by a pack of wild libraries. She knows how to spell at least ten words in the English language, and can easily be talked into doing almost anything if you tell her it will be an adventure, even if this is obviously a lie. Should you feel so inclined, you may find her at Facebook.com/WriterAllisonPT or Twitter.com/Allison_PT.

Glass: A Journal of Poetry is published weekly by Glass Poetry Press. All contents © the author.