dc thoughts

what sticks is this one scene:
a black lady in a grey sweater
 and dark blue  hat
from the fifties, tightly woven straw,
with a band around it, a simple shape
like a lady's bowler, sits on a bench outside
the justice department. she wears
 a blue dress, her stockings rolled up to her knees
also a brown coat because today is misty. pigeons
are at her feet. a couple of black tarps
are spread on the bench to keep it dry and a blue one
covers the shopping cart next to her. there is a box
stacked upon another box on the bench beside her.
she mutters at the pigeons as i walk by.

the next bench is also covered in tarps and for a moment
i think she has a one bedroom instead of an efficiency.
a closer glance reveals a human shaped lump in sleeping
position. the building behind them has an inscription on its
lintel which reads "the rule of law is the only justice";
soggy flags hang along the lintel every six yards
for   two blocks. from beside the silver plated twenty foot
double entry doors half a block from her home, i pull out my phone
and shoot her from behind. you cannot see her face. you
can never see her face.