first homicide of 2019
Luke Kuzmish 


 
"you could smell the gunshot"
said the witness
of the night Nick killed his roommate
maybe his friend
definitely
the guy
who
sold
him
meth.

the paper reports now
they've rounded up the two
accused of the crime
reported as the first homicide of 2019
(which says something about us
as a culture,
as a city,
as monkeys
          hungry
          for more bad news
but what that something is,
I do not know)

that
the inhabitants
in the little apartment
felt something was off axis
     about these two showing up
     wearing dirty hoods over their heads
     Nick's hands deep in his pockets
     asking about
     the heater
     they imagined their dealer
     was holding
yet
still didn't call the cops
"but obviously
it was a drug deal"

(his thinking
says something
about crime,
punishment,
pride,
prejudice,
justice,
the law)

the paper reported
these two men
robbed eleven other homes that night
eleven!

I keep thinking
about how
by some sort of luck
I didn't push the offer to help
Nick too much
and right before
he put a gun to
his dealer's head
he said
he didn't need a ride
​
I guess
about that
Nick wasn't lying









​

About the Author: 
Luke Kuzmish is a new father, recovering addict, software developer, and writer from Erie, Pennsylvania. His latest chapbook, Little Hollywood, was published by Alien Buddha Press in 2018.

---