(1) Red Iris

Your time is limited

The Blue Iris of another day,
pointed in my direction as I attempted to save a life
As I stomped down the stairs toward the pained shouting
I couldn’t help but feel the glare of the observer, the harshest gaze

The scene came into view: a man on the floor face blue as a hydrangea
The skyward eye began to shift, first purple, toward red
A woman screaming and crying by his side
Overdose. Heroin. I quickly…