The Zipper's Sound

It happened on the street,

a man yanking his coat.

That sharp, metallic bleat,

a snag, then a hard note.

And instantly, the screen,

that reporter’s hushed voice.

The zipper, stark and mean,

a final, brutal choice.

A sound that made the air

go thin, a sudden dread.

It’s lodged inside me there,

the closing of the dead.