by Kathleen Aguero My grandson plucks a marigold poking through a neighbor’s white fence, crushes it between his fingers while I try to remember if it’s poisonous. Three days later he’s alive, so I cross the marigold off my list of potentially lethal flora toddlers might put in their mouths. So far, he has not … More At Sixteen Months: Brown & Gold
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
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 … More On Facts, the ABCs, and Lands of the Lost
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
By M. Padgen-Michna
She drifted on a sea of dreams
wearing a new purple backpack, … More Chicago Stories
By Dion O’Reilly
Once my father shot at me
from a block away. Bullets
spit at my feet, struck a mailbox,
pinged like a broken bell. … More Initials
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
By Candice Kelsey
Take back the Izhmash Saigon 12-gauge semiautomatic shotgun, … More A Poem for Today, Lord
By Boyd Bauman The unimaginable became reality again. According to script, a loner from society’s fringe thrust himself into the spotlight with the usual Second Amendment props. But this time, it was the aftermath that shocked a nation. What was it cracked the jade of American conscience? What was it made the leader of the … More The Right to Keep and Bear Reason
By Austin Davis All the kids are picking flowers but they wouldn’t dare plant them. It’s too late in the day for beauty to grow from nothing. There’s not nearly enough time before the bullets will start to rain like words of hate on a swing set and the class will have to count the … More Words from a Student
Bullets into Bells 