I have a small  office
It looks out onto a store
I saw a young couple
arguing in a roar

I watch concerned for her safety
not knowing them, I’ve seen the worst
he was crouched inside his car
she had him cornered and cowed

she reached into his window
to hand him some sort of paper
then he raised up the window
catching her small arm in the door

by the time he freed her
she was beset and beside herself
in frustration she tore the paper to bits
and threw it to the ground

after they departed I  ventured out
to see what could be found
perhaps to understand the commotion
maybe some logic behind the row

and there in the bits and pieces
I picked up the shapes of  ripped paper
a jigsaw puzzle of jagged sorrow
the torn image of a life-force
an  unwanted baby that will know no morrow