An American Trilogy

I don’t usually share my poetry, but guns are the exception to every rule. This trilogy was originally posted as images to my twitter account (@TheoloGOP) in June of 2015. (Those images are at the end of this post.)

Guns kill, but they do so much more than that. You can change a life without ending it. Today, I’m worrying about changed lives in Virginia Beach.

The Drill.

Listen my children and you shall hear
What to do should a gun appear.

Look to your teachers.
Their job’s to save you.

They will scream or whisper
what you must next do.

Find somewhere to hide, if the gun is still far.
(Just make sure you don’t leave the door ajar.)

If the gun is near, so is your end.
Lie low.
Don’t move.
Play dead.
Pretend.

American Make Believe.

 

Broken Windows.

Fire a bullet into a glass pane. It will make a little hole.
But radiating from that hole? A web of shatter…
Exponentially larger and more devastating to the whole.

Fire a bullet into a human being. It can end them.
But radiating from that death? A web of shatter…
Exponentially larger and more devastating to humanity.

Tens of thousands a year, here. Taken by the gun.
All of those stones dropped in the dark water.
Huge. Horrible. But only a whisper of the scream.
The scream of all those ripples.

The ripples survived the gunshot. The ripples carry on.
But don’t deceive yourself. We weren’t spared.

The Living. 

Eye Contact.

The person in your grocery store, struggling with a simple chore.
“It’s harder for me than it is for you. I got shot.”

The young person pushed in a wheelchair, by an older one they take after.
“I’m not as independent as you are. I got shot.”

The parents who spend holidays in a hospital, lavishing love on the unaware.
“Holidays are harder for us than they are for you. Our child got shot.”

The awesome lady at your workplace, inexplicably and forever single.
“I won’t ever marry. I was going to, but he got shot.”

Unspoken Communication.

 

 

 

 

 

If I Were Michael Dukakis – The Death Penalty Answer

Perhaps among the dozen most famous Presidential Debate Moments in our national history came in the 1988 race, and was asked of Michael Dukakis, then Massachusetts Governor, a Democrat:

“If Kitty Dukakis were raped and murdered, would you favor an irrevocable death penalty for the killer?”

His response was widely condemned for being dispassionate. I was young then, but my reaction was that he was blindsided, and that the question was unfairly sensational and personal. To this day, I do not fault his response in the moment.

[SIDEBAR: I was on national TV a few times on “Jeopardy.” The first time, I was so damn terrified that they had to move the clip-on mic away from my heart, because they could hear it pounding in the control booth. I don’t judge.]

Having said that, If I were Michael Dukakis, this is what I wish I would have said in that nationally televised moment:

“Kitty is the love of my life. If I lost her, the person I’d want to kill would be myself… But she and I have built a family together. I like to believe I would find my courage, remember my responsibilities to my family, and put them first, before my personal anguish and suffering.

I take my responsibilities as Governor of Massachusetts just as seriously. Fury is a fire that can keep you emotionally warm, but it does NOTHING to protect the citizens you’ve sworn to serve.

The facts on the death penalty are these:

• There is no evidence the death penalty deters anything.
• There are better, more effective, and less expensive ways to prevent and punish murder.
• I oppose it, as do the citizens of my state, who have outlawed it.
• Without it, Massachusetts has experienced the biggest drop in crime, and the lowest murder rate of any industrial state in America.

These are the FACTS.

Fury may keep you emotionally warm, but facts keep your citizens safe. That is how I have governed Massachusetts, and how I will govern The United States if elected.”

**********

Dear reader, if you have read this far, here is your reward: “The West Wing” on the same subject. You wanna watch the whole clip (because it’s hilarious), but the relevant content starts around two minutes: