Her Bloody Sunrise

It starts like this:
a girl, a train, a man.

The man asks the girl
will you marry me?
She’s never seen him before.
She doesn’t reply.

The man takes out a knife.
The girl is found
by the railway tracks
her throat slit.

This is not a story.
This is an incident.

My mother says
don’t go out alone after dark.
don’t wear that dress.
don’t talk to strangers.

My mother says
a man tried to kiss me once
at a bus stop.
I slapped him.

My mother says
another man
followed me home from school.
I ran.

I say
but you were married
by twenty-three.

She says
times were different then.

She means
I was safe.

She means
you’re not.

I dream
of a red sun rising
over the railway tracks.

I dream
of a girl
with a knife in her hand.

The train stops.
A man gets off.
The girl asks will you
marry me?

The man doesn’t reply.

The girl slits his throat.