Matthew and Laura

Matthew and Laura
(for Matthew Shapard and Laura Hershey, RIP)

He died after 16 hours hung on a fence
in Wyoming in October
a little over 12 and a quarter years ago
According to Weather Database,
it was 30 degrees and clear,
warmer than average although still too cold
for my spastic body, as well as your newly injured one.

She died the day after Thanksgiving 2010
after an illness of brief we chatted on Facebook earlier that week
leaving behind a twenty year partner and a 14-year-old daughter.

He was 21.
She was 48.
He was going to be a civil rights lawyer.
She was a civil rights activist.
He is a martyr.
She is a poet.
I didn’t know him.
I knew her.

I miss both.