The Empty Place of Eddie*

Today the rain washes your blood
And wipes it from the pavement.
There remains only your sunny smile,
Your tall baseball bat
Leaning against the wall,
And your backpack full of books
Waiting for your shoulders.
Curse the hand that made the gun
Curse the hand that put it in the shop
And curse the hand that pulled the trigger!
I am cold and empty
Like the shell of a bullet
Because I know that your mother
Will not pass another school again
And will not sit on bleachers
In another baseball game
And will not open her empty oven
To heat fragrant tortillas
For your dinner.

Majid Naficy
March 3, 2006
* Eddie Lopez a Santa Monica High School student was gunned down on Tuesday February 28, 2006 at the 26th St. and Pico Blvd. My son Azad knew him.