A free-verse poem about a controversial subject. |
What Sometimes Happens When … The rifle is aimed; the trigger is pulled. The bullet cuts through the air in excess of 3000 feet per second, striking its target explosively just below the left shoulder. Muscle tissue is torn asunder; blood vessels and arteries are sheared; nerves are blown apart; blood flows copiously and then … … The soldier falls mortally wounded with a look of surprise etched on his face. At age twenty all his dreams will die. His wife back home is pregnant; his son will never know his father. … Another mother lies dying on the ground, thinking how much she loves her children. This day in Texas the sniper kills fourteen victims, wounds thirty-two more innocent by-passers. … The enraged father shoots his wife and children at point-blank range, killing his whole family. He is distraught when the police arrest him. He wishes his wife hadn’t provoked him into the act. … Some say, “Guns don’t kill people,” but people with them sure as Hell do. So let’s make certain everyone you meet across America is packing a gun. What? Why? Isn’t it time we as a nation had a RATIONAL, LEVEL-HEADED discussion of this issue of guns and public safety with civility by all? All other industrialized nations managed to do so. Please check out my ten books: http://www.amazon.com/Jr.-Harry-E.-Gilleland/e/B004SVLY02/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0 |