i thought
in the most naive of ways
that i was not affected
i knew no one
i had never been
i did not know
they were not my people
it was not my city
it was not me

but i was wrong
not because i had dead of my own to mourn
or because i had friends and family to call

i was affected because everyone else was

i was affected because that was when they took off their masks and showed their true colors
and everyone else was blinded by their grief
leaving only my eyes to see the slow motion destruction of the world i lived in
stripping away layer of naivete after layer of innocense after layer of faith
in god and human
and while the world went on, in tears and fear

i was left alone
not realizing what had happened
for the longest time

i was affected
and it hurts.