Alone in the crowd

I’m used the feeling,

carrying distractions

from the isolation.

Sending my thoughts

into the void

it’s easy to feel connected,

making a masquerade,

building a protective shell

of text, plastic and headphones.

The news,

condolences from around the world,

heartfelt messages

exploding with shared grief.

As the newscasts

replay events,

your words

crack open my shell,

until I lay broken on the floor,

brittle like plastic shards.

I’ve been thinking about grief in the wake of the man who drove his van, killing and injuring the pedestrians at Yonge and Finch. And I was strong, until the rest of the world shared our grief. Does it break you like that too?