Yesterday,

I watched three men die because one man sneezed in a room full of blood and shit and light.

Today,

three more men go in, cheap mops and each other's lives in their hands.

Yesterday,

I watched a man I admired gunned down for leaving a rose for a girl whose life was tattered by trauma she never deserved.

Today,

she doesn't remember, and three halls down I can hear her screaming.

Yesterday,

I watched a group of soldiers go down fighting against the corpses of comrades who'd died before them.

Today,

we test another sample, this time on children.

Yesterday,

I watched five men and women gunned down in an abandoned factory no one cares about.

Today,

it happens again and again. Every eleven seconds. Forever.

Yesterday,

I watched a man sit comfortably in a nice armchair, sipping scotch and laughing as he ordered a woman to simply stop breathing.

Today,

he gets the day off of work detail for good behavior.

Yesterday,

I watched hundreds of men and women in orange jumpsuits herded like animals into empty rooms that filled with gas and fire.

Today,

hundreds more are told they have a chance for a lighter sentence, and a chance to serve their country.

Yesterday,

I watched the world nearly die in a thousand thousand terrible ways. Sometimes we would have had time to scream.

Today,

I'm alive to write about it. You want happy endings? Fuck you.

You're alive to read it.

God help us all.

Secure. Contain. Protect.