The Start

Matt Mason, the state poet of Nebraska, wrote a poem for The Times in response to the attack on the Capitol:

The Start

It probably started

in a whisper, a murmur,

a low tone hardly caught by the papers,

a sticker, a poster,

a brick wall with slogans in fresh black paint

because

it probably started with a shove,

some bluster, a gunshot,

crushed fingers, it probably started

with a speech that caught the right ears

on an otherwise happy day,

yellow flowers in a wooden stand on the sidewalk,

red apples, radio

trying hard to smooth out the mood,

kid hurrying past, thinking,

God, is that man on the corner

shouting

about me,

pulls his hat low,

it probably started

with another man

drunk on swagger,

it probably started

with a small crowd

coaxing exciting lies,

it probably started

with a neighborhood’s head bowed

as the drone grows each day

(though they’ll claim

it came

in a quick, monstrous surprise).