into the
world
she ran
blue girl
blue day

nine nurses burning
on a California bridge

incendiary

passersby
filmed death
on their cell phones
and drove away alive

three women held captive for ten years

no one noticed
everyone cared

I hold my fear
in my hand
like a flower

it blooms
in the bright
light of day

lives that
could have
been so different
if they had not lived
laughing and crying
every minute
every hour
every day

I am not afraid of love
it is afraid of me
it cowers on a San Mateo bridge
in an Ohio basement
women who were loved
stolen from their lives
held captive
set on fire
and made famous
by our curiosity