Catherine, he pleaded
into a horde of holiday shoppers.

Catherine, Catherine, he cried
as he spun around, searching with wild eyes.
He ran a few steps, stopped, ran again.

Catherine… his voice faded as he vanished
in the swirl of the crowd
followed by a walkie-talkie security guard.

Seconds suddenly precious
as we bystanders waited,
as shoppers rushed by,
their little packages appearing
and disappearing.
I peered into that stampede
for the tumbling of that child,
paralyzed by an impossible impulse
to seal off the dozen mall exits all at once.

Catherine’s Daddy, a store clerk called out
while walking by us briskly.
She was smiling, almost singing
as she searched for him,
to bring the good news to him,
bringing good news to all
who had stopped and hoped.

BRUCE JOHNSON is a lifelong Long Island resident who currently lives in Northport with his wife, Isabella. He has been writing poetry for over thirty years and has been narrowly published in a few journals and anthologies.  He recently published a book of poems entitled Borderlands and Dreams. Bruce currently volunteers at the Walt Whitman Birthplace where he works with the curator and hosts poetry workshops.