Someone Was Murdered On New Year’s

in the house behind me a gun was fired
and everyone mistook it for a firework-

for a vessel, reckless and ephemeral 
pyrotechnics and bodies...
one and the same, i guess.

the point is he died,
while I looked at the Internet
and masturbated in my bed.

many deaths have occurred
while i've masturbated in my bed.

this reality and the eeriness
of the Starbucks mermaid,

are more grounding than a funeral.