by Brendan Constantine
Promise to write a poem about gun violence.
Make sure you’re already pressed for time;
this will help you feel like a liar when you say
it will be soon. Don’t even consider writing
by hand. Use a computer or a phone, something
hard on the eyes. If possible, check into a motel.
Drink coffee, eat starch, leave the TV on some
24-hour news channel. There will, of course,
be a new shooting or an update on an old one.
Pace the room. Feel like part of the problem.
From time to time, apologize to your reflection
on any surface. Type the word “Help” and then
delete it. Type the word “Gun” and stare at it,
until it moves.
Brendan Constantine is a poet based in Los Angeles. His work has appeared in many standards, including Poetry, The Nation, Best American Poetry, and Poem-a-Day. His first collection, Letters to Guns (2009 Red Hen Press) is now taught extensively in classrooms across the nation. He teaches at the Windward School.
Bullets into Bells 