"Stay away from the bridge," parents said. As if it was a place, an abyss, holding all the...

[opens door] [water lapping] [Rebecca Godfrey]
"Stay away from the bridge," parents said. As if it was a place, an abyss, holding all the savagery. [seagulls cawing] Dark forces who could beat
and attack your daughter, or who could turn your daughter
into a brutal and careless thug. Everyone at Shoreline
had been told by their parents, "You are never going out again." As if this darkness
was something they could hide from rather than something
that lives within us all