I can still remember
opening my studio door
and the shock of seeing the newspaper
in the hallway, on the floor
And what that unbidden issue
of the Toronto Star said -
fourteen women at Ecole Poly-technique
in Montreal massacred …shot dead
And I remember the fear
That slowly crept up my spine
As I looked at that awful
Early December headline
Was this surprise at my door a warning
some sort of indirect threat
that if you’re female, bright, and ambitious
this is what you might get?
As it turned out, it was left
by a man with a good intention
who wanted to apprise me of the news
not cause me apprehension
I felt compelled to write this
to mark the tragic date
when common human decency
was overruled by hate
When fourteen innocent lives
with so much potential were ended
by ignoble and evil actions
which can never be defended
Kathy Figueroa
