by Jen Schneider
Fact:
noun
something known to be true
an actual occurrence
something with actual existence
May 24, 2022
Fact:
27 school shootings this year.
To Date
119 school shootings in the U.S.
Since 2018
More than 200 mass shootings in the U.S.
This Year
To Date
May 24th is the 144th day in the Gregorian Calendar
200 > 144
Guns made in the U.S. hit all-time highs in 2020
& have tripled since
There is no single definition of mass shooting
Dangers Defy Definition
There was a time
There is no more time
It is far past time
To fill in the blanks
Fact:
There was a time when the space between letters like F and A described correctable errors. Miscalculations prime for revision. A forgotten step in a mathematical equation. A mismarked box or grid. Perhaps an overlooked color by number spot. A numerical plot. One easily solved and resolved. Of erasure dust and human-to-human trust. All eyes on me.
Fact:
There was a time when the distance between letters like F and A were tempered by Cs. Alongside Bs. Arbitrary measures of progress. Goals to strive for. Approximate rates of increase. Markers of merit. Not of production or stain to inherit. There was a time when the letter C marked an average performance. One of regular days and mediocre plays. Games of wiffleball at sunset. And soft-serve ice cream cones at dusk. Of a reluctance to sleep before nine. And a penchant for greasy fries at all times. Of lessons in homophones. Strings of syllables, not bullets, turned words that sound alike — see and sea, be and bee, sun and son — but mean different things.
Son
/sən/
Noun
a boy or man in relation to either or both of his parents
Where is my ____
as the sun sets in the West
and the Earth continues to spin
the sun also rises. Hemingway had a way with the pen. A hallmark of classroom curriculum. Tales with morals. Plots with twists. Happy endings. Amidst alternate universes. With monsters at the end of the book. And crayon boxes that talk. And hats that come back. And lands of the lost. Where live-action shows mix with stop-motion. And all dinosaurs are animated. And all animations make-believe.
this is not that time.
Fact:
this is a time of monsters and wild things and box magazines and families in search of ____
and answers
trapped in an alternate universe
and time warp
inhabited by dynamite
and men eating men
a time of signals and signs and shootings
and quarrels and quibbles and quarantines
and numbers that do not lie
facts on fire
Fact:
gun
/ɡən/
Noun
“a weapon
incorporating a metal tube
from which bullets, shells, or other missiles
are propelled by explosive force”
“typically making a characteristic loud, sharp noise”
There was a time when gun and run were rhyming words in safe spaces. On mats of primary colors and ABCs. Where kindergarteners gathered to read and to write. In morning songs of bird calls and back-to-back cotton and flannel unity. All limbs locked. Of happy birthdays. And seasons. Of finger knitting, watercolor paint, and seasonless sidewalk chalk rainbows.
There was a time when the space between letters like C and T were filled with vowels both long and short and accompanying sounds. A for cat. Felines. O for cot. Naptime. U for cut. Grab a band-aid. Pet the feline. All eyes on me. When teachers taught children and children taught teachers. And active referred to voice and tense. And subjects doing something. Like blowing bubbles. And modeling clay. Petals and puppies. Daisies and daffodils. Suns that never cease to shine. And tossing frisbees for four-legged friends to fetch. Ready. Set. Go.
There was a time when a no good, very bad, horrible day was the stuff of storytime – of alexander. and marcie crushes on charlie brown. and charlie brown hugs with snoopy. And the wild things mean bedtime with no supper. And harold could create the world he sought simply by drawing it — in hues of purple and moonlit tracks of childhood bliss.
Fact:
this is not that time
the land
of lost
and tangled fate
cries
in halls with no echo
Fact:
it is far past time to
take
stop
restrict
gut
seize
the guns
Sources:
https://www.npr.org/2022/05/24/1101050970/2022-school-shootings-so-far
https://www.edweek.org/leadership/school-shootings-this-year-how-many-and-where/2022/01
https://www.gunviolencearchive.org/
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/17/us/politics/gun-manufacturing-atf.html
https://global.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202205/19/WS6285a020a310fd2b29e5dab6.html
https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2022/02/03/what-the-data-says-about-gun-deaths-in-the-u-s/
Number of guns made in the U.S. nearly tripled since 2000
Jen Schneider is an educator who lives, writes, and works in small spaces throughout Pennsylvania. Recent works include A Collection of Recollections, Invisible Ink, On Habits & Habitats, and Blindfolds, Bruises, and Breakups. She is the 2022-2023 Montgomery County (PA) Poet Laureate.
Bullets into Bells 