By Claire Neubert
school bus: Prison Detail
on the front
Two Kroger water jugs sloshing
over potholes
Tattooed skin against pink trees
and still air-switching the sign
from drive slow to stop: safety first.
One lane road and the smell
of burning leaves and a fading
fall. Frogs croak-cicada whirls,
vultures move out of the street feasting
on deer – dead red flesh fur & gun
stores every other building here
in Coweta County.
Deer culling near houses before tick
season, so stay off the trails, keep
your children out of the backyard
to prevent being shot shooting
basketballs.
Stay out of schools to prevent being shot.
Dismantle no-gun zones, so there is no
temptation, gun up the teachers
and build more churches–
pray no sex before marriage–
let the children meditate
on metal detectors, pray for the children
on the front lines-Lord,
bless our guns.
Bright yellow school bus, school zone
of 35 mph, talk slow, walk faster
so the politicians hear you
before they hit you
speeding
About the Author
Claire Neubert is a California native, poet, and University of San Francisco graduate currently living in Serenbe, Georgia. This poem was the result of outrage by the NRA, and their propaganda videos. This poem was born from the shock by the gun culture here in the South and devastated to have to sit silent through another shooting. I hope this poem lands for someone in this new era of activism, and involvement in our government because it is our American right.
Bullets into Bells 