Category: Poems

The poems posted here have been curated specifically for the website and don’t appear in the poetry anthology. If you’d like to submit a poem about gun violence in America for consideration on this site, please see our submission guidelines in the “Other Voices” drop menu.

WHY I’LL NEVER OWN AN AR-15 EVEN THOUGH MIKE FLYNN’S “ARMY OF GOD” HAS SET ITS SIGHTS ON ME

November 19, 2022

by B. Fulton Jennes October 25, 2022 Warning: this poem contains graphic images of gun violence and the names of children and adults shot and killed in the Sandy Hook, Uvalde, Columbine, and Stoneman Douglas mass shootings. Because meat bleeds. Because we all know guns aren’t toys. Because the only difference between men and boys … More WHY I’LL NEVER OWN AN AR-15 EVEN THOUGH MIKE FLYNN’S “ARMY OF GOD” HAS SET ITS SIGHTS ON ME

Pilate at Uvalde

November 12, 2022

by Richard Krawiec Somewhere past the middle of the video, 57 minutes in, maybe between bullet 79 and 80, perhaps after the 18th or 19th child screamed its death, the sheriff at the end of the hallway casually crossed to the hand sanitizer, gave it 3 squirts, lathered it around assiduously, long enough to hum … More Pilate at Uvalde

Cemetery

October 16, 2022

by Deborah Bogen Sorrow-hewed, this box was built to house my sister’s boney limbs–the bones of the box meant to shelter hers, but by and by even boxes decay, so the body that housed her once-hot heart will lay exposed. Returned to clay. The priest spoke words. A cold rain fell. All over the cemetery … More Cemetery

The Killdeer

September 24, 2022

by Lynne Paris-Purtle   On his first day of school, my son sat on the bus, his head stretched high, to peer out the grimy window. Around his neck hung a plastic tag with his name and address, but he couldn’t read, so he told the driver over and over who he was and where he … More The Killdeer

Black Marker

September 9, 2022

by Claire Hsu Accomando At the White House briefingon the Corona Virus, the 45thPresident reads from a prepared text.A reporter notices he useda Sharpie pen to blacken “Corona,” and wrote over it“CHINESE Virus.” More than 3,000 hate incidentstarget Asians betweenMarch 16, 2020andMarch 16, 2021. Today on my walk, a cascadeof lavender lanterns dangle—face down—over a … More Black Marker

Gun Song

March 3, 2021

By Alivia Vaughns I’m at a concert and the main singer comes on and talks about the next song and how they found a gun in their father’s sock drawer and I’m standing there in shock because apparently I’ve never listened closely to the lyrics though I should’ve known with a title like “Gun Song” … More Gun Song